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; he was generally considered 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.

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, 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. During the period before Janet Reno was confirmed as Attorney General, Hubbell worked out of the Attorney General's offices. 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.

Clinton floated Hubbell's name for the Associate Attorney General job on January 30, 1993, after Zoe Baird had withdrawn her nomination to be Attorney General but before Clinton nominated Janet Reno. Hubbell was formally nominated on April 2, 1993. 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.

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.

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 did not conclude that the money was intended to influence Hubbel's cooperation with investigators in the Whitewater investigation.

Tax charges and the Supreme Court decision

In 1998, Hubbell was indicted on additional federal tax evasion and conspiracy charges. 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. 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).