By Dr. Jesse Lewis, Sr.
If you do not believe this, you should ask former House Speaker Mike Hubbard or ask former Governor of the great state of Alabama, Dr. Robert Bentley.
The U.S. House and Senate should take a page from the book of the Alabama State Legislatures. They do not care if you are black, white, straight, gay, Republican, or Democrat; they will, as the old folks say, pursue you until the wheels run off.
The U.S. House and Senate are afraid of Donald Trump. They stand by and permit him to continue to refuse to release his tax returns. He is the first President in the United States, ever, who did not release this document.
They permit him to set up another White House on his personal property, and charge the federal government with rent, food, whiskey, and entertainment. If and when he is found guilty of the same thing that Mike Hubbard did in Alabama, they will not even attempt to remove him from office.
In the Chambers of the Alabama House of Representatives, they have their motto on the wall as a constant reminder. “Vox Populi”, which means “Voice of the People.
The people spoke in 2016 when they convicted Mike Hubbard of 12 of the 23 charges that he faced. Hubbard was convicted of:
- Voting on legislation with a conflict of interest that would benefit American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc., a consulting client;
- Receiving money from a principal, American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc., through a consulting contract;
- Receiving money from a principal, Edgenuity, through a consulting contract;
- Using office for personal gain through a consulting contract with Capitol Cups, a business owned by Robert Abrams;
- Lobbying the state Department of Commerce for consulting client Robert Abrams;
- Lobbying the governor’s office for consulting client Robert Abrams;
- Using state personnel to benefit consulting client Robert Abrams;
- Soliciting and receiving money from a principal, former Business Council of Alabama Chairman Will Brooke, a $150,000 investment in Craftmaster Printers;
- Soliciting and receiving money from a principal, James Holbrook/Sterne Agee, a $150,000 investment in Craftmaster Printers;
- Soliciting and receiving money from a principal, Great Southern Wood President Jimmy Rane, a $150,000 investment in Craftmaster Printers;
- Soliciting and receiving money from a principal, Hoar Construction President Robert Burton, a $150,000 investment in Craftmaster Printers;
- Soliciting and receiving a thing of value from a principal, former BCA Chairman Will Brooke, help obtaining clients for Auburn Network and financial advice for Craftmaster Printers.
On Monday, April 10, 2017, Dr. Bentley was booked into Montgomery County Jail on two misdemeanor campaign finance charges. He pled guilty to failing to file a major campaign finance report and converting campaign money for personal use. Court documents show that he agreed to reimburse nearly $9,000 in campaign funds, pay $50,000 in fines, resign his post and not seek public office.
Dr. Bentley was sentenced to a 30-day suspended sentence and 12 months of unsupervised probation, and must serve 100 hours of community service. The misdemeanor sentence means that Bentley, a dermatologist since he left the U.S. Air Force, will be able to keep his license.
