Misgivings about Hubbard mixing politics and business were expressed well before he became speaker.

“I understand—believe me—I went 14 years on a Gov payroll and it was a challenge,” Riley replied, adding a warning: “Now and from now on you and I are going to be suspect in everything we do.” The “question now is DO YOU ‘WANT’ to be Gov ---- or--- make alot [sic] of money: good thing is you could do either but I am not sure it’s possible to do both.”

Misgivings about Hubbard mixing politics and business were expressed well before he became speaker. On the witness stand, John Ross, who was executive director of the Alabama Republican Party when Hubbard was chair, testified that he voiced concern when “the chairman told us he wanted to use” his company, Craftmaster Printing, to produce mailers for Republican candidates across the state in the party’s successful 2010 campaign to take control of the state legislature. (Alabama’s ethics laws forbid the chair and vice chair of any political party from directing party money toward themselves or any business they own or are employed by.)

Ross was one of two witnesses called on opening day on May 24, both of whom testified that they helped Hubbard steer party money—which, as chairman, he controlled—to his own businesses, and also helped him hide the scheme by funneling the money through other businesses. One was Majority Strategies, a Florida political marketing firm that has worked for Republican candidates nationwide, including Mitt Romney in his 2012 bid for the White House. Under Hubbard’s leadership, the state party paid Majority Strategies $800,000 during the election cycle, and the Florida company in turn spent more than $700,000 of that at Hubbard’s print shop.

Majority Strategies wasn’t particularly thrilled with the arrangement. During Ross’s testimony, the prosecution entered into evidence emails from the company’s owner, Brett Buerck, stating that he wouldn’t mind using Craftmaster “if their prices were more in line with what we pay other places. … Based on a message I got from Hubbard last night, our relationship relationship [sic] with them is still very tenous [sic]. And because I am a greedy bastard I would rather us swallow our pride and also make a lower profit margin in order to keep the client rather than getting black-balled in a state because we think the printer is making too much money and we don’t like being forced to use them.”