By Bill Britt
Alabama Political Reporter
MONTGOMERY—It seems campaign season came a little early in Senate District 12. Last week, an unflattering “push-card” concerning Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) was circulated in the Anniston area. There had been reports of such a card showing up at the State House Thursday, but efforts to obtain the card proved fruitless. The mailer we received was said to have been received in the Senate 12 District as well.
With over a year to go before the 2014 election heats up, someone is firing a big gun across Marsh’s bow. Cited in the mailer are stories concerning Marsh’s solicitation of $350,000 from the Poarch Creek Indians, as well as how the money flowed back in to Senate campaigns.
When reports of Marsh’s solicitation broke months ago, it was rumored that Marsh has begged the tribe to say he didn’t ask for the money. Not only did Marsh make the trips to Atmore to ask for the tribe’s money, he wanted the PCI to cover it up. Marsh must have believed that such a campaign would be forthcoming.
When the Alabama Political Reporterpublished the story, Marsh was given ample time to respond. However, the only response we received were in the form of threats from Phillip Bryan, Marsh’s Chief of Staff.
Marsh recently told a radio entertainer that gambling was not his issue. It would seem Marsh is trying to take the edge off the fact that he actively sought gambling money while the ALGOP was decrying the same activity by the Democrats.
It has also been said that Marsh went to Atmore to ask for money at the behest of Mike Hubbard. Hubbard, at the time, was the head of the ALGOP and has bragged about his fundraising prowess in his book Storming the State House. Nowhere in the vanity publication did he or his co-writer, David Azbell, mention the money garnered from gambling interests, even though Hubbard has met with the tribe and given them instructions to “Keep working with Marsh.”
Recently Hubbard’s Chief of Staff, Josh Blades, confronted lobbyist for the Poarch Creek and wanted them to have the tribe pull their advertising from the Alabama Political Reporter/strong>site. His request has so far been denied.
Marsh and Hubbard are under grand jury investigations in three counties: Lee, Calhoun and Montgomery. The brazen threats by their staff have not gone unnoticed by law enforcement. The push-card appears to be an opening salvo in a long campaign to expose the facts about Marsh and Hubbard. All the usual suspects were contacted concerning the push-card, but no one has taken credit for the piece.
The yellow colored card, features Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh.
The bold black and red typeface on the front reads:
You know Del Marsh? Leader of the Senate? Righteous man? Master politician? LOSER when it cones to TRUTH and ETHICS.
The backside of the push-card features Marsh with a thought-bubble:
He Lobbied: “Please, oh, please give me lots of money!” Begged for $350,000 from the Poarch Indian Gambling Casinos to run his campaign.
He Lied: “I did not ask for money from the Indians.” Simple. He lied about doing it.
He Laundered: “Hey guys, what can we do with all this gambling money?”
He took the money and schemed to run it through other PACs just before the law was passed to make this type of action illegal.
It concludes by saying,
“Del marsh is over the edge when it comes to playing games with our money. He needs a lesson in truth.” The card then goes on to give Marsh’s office number in Montgomery asking people to call and tell Marsh to, ‘Get with it to get out of there.’”
The card says it is paid for by Foundation for Education Accountability, P.O. Box 1874, Carrollton, GA 30112.
