Webster Hubbell

Webster Lee Hubbell (born 1949), known as Webster L. Hubbell and Web Hubbell, was an Arkansas lawyer and politician. He was a lawyer in Pulaski County before serving as Mayor of Little Rock from 1979 until he resigned in 1981. He was appointed by Bill Clinton as chief justice of Arkansas State Supreme Court in 1983. When Clinton became President, Hubbell was appointed as Associate Attorney General, which is the third most powerful person in the Justice Department. His wife is Suzanna "Suzy" Hubbell.

In December 1994, Hubbell pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud and tax evasion charges in connection with his handling of billing at the Rose Law Firm, a firm with partners that once included Hillary Clinton and Vince Foster. Hubbell admitted he had defrauded former clients and former partners out of $482,410.83. On June 28, 1995, Judge George Howard sentenced Hubbell to 21 months' imprisonment. cite web
title = "Final Report of the Independent Counsel in Regards to the Whitewater Investigation (Vol. III, Part C)"
work = GPO
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/transcripts/whitewater_032002.html
date of work = March 20, 2002
accessmonthday = March 17 | accessyear=2007 ]

Federal Government career

After the 1992 election, Hubbell was one of the Clinton Administration transition's senior officials responsible for vetting appointments to the Cabinet and other top positions cite web
title = "A Clinton Friend Admits Mail Fraud and Tax Evasion"
work = New York Times
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05E3DF1539F934A35751C1A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
date of work = December 7, 1994
accessmonthday = May 28 | accessyear=2008 ] , including George Stephanopoulos.

After Clinton's inauguration, Hubbell became White House liaison to the United States Department of Justice, arriving at Justice on January 24, 1993. cite web
title = "Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas"
work = U.S. Department of Justice
url = http://www.usdoj.gov/05publications/waco/waconine.html
date of work = October 8, 1993
accessmonthday = May 28 | accessyear=2008 ] During the period before Janet Reno was confirmed as Attorney General, Hubbell worked out of the Attorney General's offices. cite web
title = "Notes on Justice; Who's in Charge? Bush Holdover Says He Is, but Two Clinton Men Differ"
work = New York Times
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3DF1F38F936A15752C0A965958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
date of work = January 25, 1993
accessmonthday = May 28 | accessyear=2008 ] Hubbell was criticized for exercising undue influence in the Justice Department; columnist William Safire, for example, called Hubbell the "de facto" Attorney General, noting that after the Branch Davidian raid the White House called Hubbell, not Janet Reno. cite web
title = "Who's Got Clout"
work = New York Times Magazine
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE2D61330F933A15755C0A965958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
date of work = June 20, 1993
accessmonthday = May 28 | accessyear=2008 ]

Clinton floated Hubbell's name for the Associate Attorney General job on January 30, 1993, after Zoe Baird had withdrawn her nomination to be Attorney General but before Clinton nominated Janet Reno. cite web
title = "Clinton Selects 2 Top Aides To a Boss to Be Announced"
work = New York Times
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE6DD1231F932A05752C0A965958260&scp=6
date of work = January 31, 1993
accessmonthday = May 28 | accessyear=2008 ] Hubbell was formally nominated on April 2, 1993. cite web
title = "Senior Officials Named At Justice Department"
work = New York Times
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D6113AF930A35757C0A965958260&scp=14
date of work = April 2, 1993
accessmonthday = May 28 | accessyear=2008 ] After his nomination, Hubbell was attacked for his membership in the Country Club of Little Rock, a golf club that critics said did not admit blacks. Hubbell resigned his club membership on the day of his Senate confirmation hearing. cite web
title = "Justice Post Nominee Says He Has Quit Golf Club"
work = New York Times
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7DF113BF933A15756C0A965958260&scp=24
date of work = May 20, 1993
accessmonthday = May 28 | accessyear=2008 ]

Resignation

In January 1993, Hubbell's former partners at the Rose Law Firm discovered what appeared to be irregularities in Hubbell's bills to clients. The Independent Counsel later found that Hubbell had billed clients for services he never performed, and that he failed to report that income on his tax returns. Shortly after Independent Counsel Robert Fiske opened a criminal probe into the matter, Hubbell resigned as associate attorney general on March 14, 1994.

The day before Hubbell announced his resignation, there was a meeting of senior White House officials, including President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton, and Chief of Staff Mack McLarty. At the meeting, McLarty told Hillary Clinton that White House employees would "be supportive" of Hubbell. This meeting garnered suspicions that, as a New York Times editorial put it, there had been "a possible effort to obstruct justice by securing Mr. Hubbell's silence on crucial elements of the Whitewater case." cite web
title = "Welfare for Webster Hubbell"
work = New York Times
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9900E5DF143DF930A35757C0A961958260
date of work = April 3, 1997
accessmonthday = August 24 | accessyear=2008 ] During the sixteen months after Hubbell's resignation, he received seventeen consulting contracts totaling over $450,000 from supporters of President Clinton. While the Independent Counsel, found that Hubbell "did little or no work for the money paid by his consulting clients," he determined there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the money was intended to influence Hubbell's cooperation with investigators in the Whitewater investigation.

Criminal charges and associated litigation

On June 28, 1995, Judge George Howard sentenced Hubbell to 21 months' imprisonment. Hubbell had pled guilty. As part of his guilty plea, Hubbell entered an immunity agreement with independent counsel Kenneth Starr in exchange for his cooperation in the Whitewater investigation. He entered Federal Correctional Institution, Cumberland in August 1995, and was released from a half-way house in February 1997. cite web
title = "Webster Hubbell, Confidant of Clintons, Indicted on Tax Charges"
work = New York Times
url = http://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/050198whitewater-hubbell.htm
date of work = May 1, 1998
accessmonthday = August 24 | accessyear=2008 ] Hubbell exercised daily and dropped nearly 100 pounds while he was in prison. cite web
title = "As Bill Lerach Reports to Prison . . . A Look at What Awaits"
work = Wall Street Journal Online Law Blog
url = http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/05/19/as-bill-lerach-reports-to-prison-a-look-at-what-awaits/
date of work = May 19, 2008
accessmonthday = August 24 | accessyear=2008 ]

On April 30, 1998, Hubbell and his wife were indicted on 10 counts of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud. District Judge James Robertson threw out the charges on July 1, 1998, ruling that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr had overstepped his authority in bringing forth the Hubbell indictment. Robertson also ruled that Starr had violated Hubbell's Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination by building a case that relied on materials collected under an immunity agreement with Hubbell. cite web
title = "Hubbell Case Dismissed by District Court"
work = Court TV
url = http://www.courttv.com/archive/legaldocs/government/whitewater/hubbell_dismiss.html
date of work = July 1, 1998
accessmonthday = July 15 | accessyear=2006 ] The prosecutor appealed to the Court of Appeals and the District Court was reversed. Hubbell then appealed to the United States Supreme Court. In an 8-1 decision (with Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist being the lone dissenter), the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hubbell. See "United States v. Hubbell", 530 U.S. 27 (2000).

On November 14, 1998, Hubbell was indicted for a third time, this time for fraud and lying to the House Banking Committee and federal banking regulators. cite web
title = "Hubbell under 3rd indictment; says Starr can't make him lie about president"
work = CNN
url = http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/13/hubbell/
date of work = November 13, 1998
accessmonthday = August 24 | accessyear=2008 ]

On June 30, 1999, Hubbell entered into a new plea agreement with Starr, resolving the second and third indictments. Hubbell pleaded guilty to two charges and was sentenced to one year's probation. cite web
title = "Hubbell Guilty Plea Closes Starr’s Arkansas Inquiries"
work = Los Angeles Times
url = http://articles.latimes.com/1999/jul/01/news/mn-51899
date of work = July 1, 1999
accessmonthday = August 24 | accessyear=2008 ]

References