Ex-Kentucky congressman suspended as lawyer for lying about lesbian comment

Disgraced former U.S. Rep. Carroll Hubbard has been suspended from practicing law for 60 days for lying under oath when he denied calling an opposing lawyer and her wife “fat, ugly lesbians.”

The Kentucky Supreme Court said Hubbard, 81, agreed to the sanction and to write letters of apology to the two women, a judge and another lawyer.

The court said Hubbard committed conduct involving “dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation” when he denied under oath at a hearing that he had sent an anonymous mailing to the opposing lawyer that included the disparaging comment and that bore his handwriting.

More background:Hubbard investigated for letter calling lawyer a 'fat, ugly lesbian'

The court said in a six-page opinion Thursday that Hubbard engaged in false swearing, a misdemeanor, when he made the statement under oath.

The Courier Journal reported last year that Hubbard was investigated but not charged with a crime.

The Supreme Court said Hubbard also admitted that he filed a judicial misconduct complaint against the presiding judge, McCracken Family Court Judge Deanna Wise Henschel, to retaliate against her, then spread the news about the complaint to another family court lawyer without disclosing that he had filed it.

In a unanimous decision, the court imposed the negotiated suspension and ordered Hubbard to write apologies to Alisha and Lisa Bobo, Henschel and the other lawyer, Tiffany Poindexter.

Alisha Bobo and Henschel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Hubbard, a nine-term Democrat who represented the state's 1st Congressional District, was previously disbarred after pleading guilty in 1994 to charges stemming from an investigation into a House banking scandal.

He admitted he obstructed justice by staging a burglary of his district office to make it appear his campaign and House bank records had been stolen, and that he misappropriated more than $50,000 in campaign money for illegal use. Hoping to stave off prosecution, he worked as a Justice Department informant under the code name "Elmer Fudd," wearing a wire and taping phone conversations. He famously told the Washington Post that for more than six months, "I was an FBI slave."

In 2001, the Kentucky Bar Association's board of governors voted 16-0 against reinstating him to practice but the state Supreme Court found he was of "good moral character" and voted unanimously to return his law license.

Andrew Wolfson: 502-582-7189; awolfson@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @adwolfson.  Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/andreww.