Exchanges were heated today in Circuit Judge Jacob Walker's courtroom as special prosecutor Deputy Attorney General Matt Hart questioned former State Health Officer Don Williamson.
Williamson oversaw the state's health system, including the medicaid system and the Health Department, for more than 22 years. He was the state health officer during the 2013 legislative session.
Several of the prosecution's charges allege Hubbard voted on the 2014 Fiscal Year General Fund budget in April 2013, despite having a conflict of interest. There was language added to the House version of the budget favoring a pharmaceutical trade organization paying Hubbard $5,000 a month for "out-of-state consulting."
The contract with APCI is one of several contracts between businesses, trade organizations and Hubbard's Auburn-based media, advertising and consulting firm Auburn Network inc. Prosecutors say those contracts, ranging between $5,000–$12,000 a month per contract, violated the state's ethics law.
Defense attorneys have shaped their case to show the pro-APCI as only "a few lines" of a extremely long budget.
Williamson testified in court today that the language originated from former state Rep. Greg Wren. Wren resigned from office in 2014 after participating in the Lee County Grand Jury investigating Hubbard. Wren then plead guilty to using his office for personal gain, a Class A Misdemeanor.
The language would have required the state's medicaid agency to analyze the possibility of using a pharmacy benefits manager, a cost saving measure that streamlined the pharmaceutical reimbursement process.
The composition of the language would have essentially given the American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc. — the company paying both Hubbard and Wren — a monopoly as the sole drug provider to the state's medicaid beneficiaries.
Baxley's cross-examination seems to place the blame on Wren. Williamson said Wren was "extraordinarily angry" that the medicaid agency wanted the language removed. He also said Wren admitted to writing the language.
The charges Wren pled guilty to also relate to a contract he had with APCI.
In the defense's cross examinations, Baxley had witnesses confirm Hubbard didn't vote on the specific language itself but the entire budget, the final Senate-approved version of the bill didn't pass with the pro-ACPI language, and the final budget didn't have the language thanks to the efforts of Hubbard to have the language removed in conference committee.
However, yesterday former Hubbard staffer Josh Blades testified his staff warned Hubbard not to vote on the bill. He was afraid the bill was a conflict of interest, but Hubbard decided to vote on it anyway because abstaining would have "raised too many red flags."
Things got heated during Hart's questioning of Williamson, one of the prosecution's witnesses, and the testimony did not seem to go the way the Hart expected.
"I don't recall you telling me and the agents [of the attorney general's office] that were with us the five things that came out of the meeting with Mr. Hubbard," Hart said during the questioning.
Williamson testified that he had five takeaways from a meeting with Hubbard after the medicaid agency found out about the language on the day the House voted on their version of the budget:
Wren wrote the language and had it added in committee. Hubbard had a contract with APCI for out-of-state consulting. Hubbard was angry that the lobbyist for APCI — Ferrell Patrick — didn't tell him about the language. He would help to have the language removed from the final bill. And Hubbard would make sure Wren would not be on the conference committee responsible for having the language removed.
"I believe that's what I said on [April 24th]," Williamson said. He repeated the five takeaways, verbatim, several times throughout his testimony.
Hart then asked Williamson about all of the people he was friends with who had a stake in the APCI matter as well as his own stake in maintaining a positive relationship with the Legislature, insinuating Williamson had changed his testimony before the court.
Williamson now serves as the president of the Alabama Hospitals Association, a principal trade organization that lobbies the Legislature on behalf of the state's hospitals. Williamson is also a registered lobbyist.
"Is it awkward for you to testify against the defendant, the current sitting speaker of the house," Hart asked. The defense objected and Hart replied, "He's a lobbyist, your honor."
Later, Medicaid Commissioner and General Counsel Stephanie Azar also testified before the court. Her testimony differed slightly from Williamson's.
"Speaker Hubbard had said he recommended we go meet with [Wren]," Williamson said. "When we approached [Wren] ... he became extremely angry. I don't recall us ever saying anything to Wren about Speaker Hubbard changing his mind. ... [Wren was] angry — unreasonably angry."
According to Azar, Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed was responsible for working to have the language removed. Reed has been the sponsor of several different bills intended to reform Alabama's medicaid system.
"When we got our meeting ... that Greg Reed mediated, that was where some alternative language was agreed to," Azar said.
The trial will continue tomorrow at 9 a.m. with nine more witnesses to be called by the prosecution including Brett Burke from Majority Strategies, Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz and other prominent politicians from the Wiregrass area.
The witnesses should testify on charges that Hubbard used his office to benefit his printing business Craftmasters, and Hubbard used his mantle as speaker to lobby for the Southeast Alabama Gas District — a company paying him, at one point, $12,000 for "consulting."
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