By Bill Britt
Alabama Political
Reporter
Beth Rogers, wife of US Congressman Mike Rogers, won the election to become Calhoun County District Judge on November 2, 2010. Campaign finance records from the 2010 campaign cycle show Rep. Mike Hubbard’s Network PAC received $90,000 in contributions from Congressman Rogers’ federal campaign account. Hubbard’s PAC donated to state lawmakers who also made contributions to Beth Rogers’ campaign.
Money flowed from Rogers to Hubbard who contributed to State lawmakers, many of whom made contributions to Mrs. Rogers’ judicial campaign.
One retired legislator, speaking on background, alleges that Hubbard approached him about a two-to-one swap in which each lawmaker who contributed to Mrs. Rogers’ campaign would receive double the amount donated to her from Network PAC.
Approximately 29 Republican lawmakers made donations to Mrs. Rogers’ campaign, with many receiving double their donation from Hubbard’s Network PAC.
In an example of what appears to be the two-for-one swap, Rep. Jack Williams’ campaign made a $1500 contribution to Mrs. Rogers on May 5, 2010. On May 10, 2010, Hubbard’s Network PAC gave Williams a $3000 contribution. Another example is on April 27, 2010, Rep. Mike Ball gave $250 to Mrs. Rogers and later received $500 from Network PAC on May 10, 2010. This pattern is repeated with many of the state lawmakers who donated to Mrs. Rogers campaign.
Mrs. Rogers served as treasurer of Congressman Rogers’ federal campaign account (Hubbard closed Network PAC ahead of his indictment on 23 counts of public corruption).
On April 15, 2010, Congressman Rogers transferred $20,000 from his federal account to Hubbard’s Network PAC. A little over a week later, donations from legislators began to flow into Mrs. Rogers’ account. Campaign records show 16 separate donations from 16 different State lawmakers were recorded on May 3, 2010. In May, Rogers contributed $20,000 to Network PAC; in July he contributed $35,000; and in October he made two contributions, $5000 and $10,000, respectively.
In total, Congressman Rogers’ federal campaign account made approximately $90,000 in donations to Hubbard’s Network PAC. Hubbard’s PAC gave around $50,000 in contribution state lawmakers. Former State Senator John Rice initiated the original research for this story.
Supporting documents for this report can be found at www.alreporter.com. There will be more to come.