From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
MONTGOMERY –Matt Hart, head of the Special Prosecutions Division, has resigned from the Attorney General’s office, according to communications director Mike Lewis.
The resignation came Monday.
“The Attorney General accepted Mr. Hart’s resignation today and thanked him for his service to the State,” Lewis said in an email to Yellowhammer. “It is the policy of this office to refrain from comment about personnel matters, so we will have no further statement.”
Hart led the prosecution of former Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard who was indicted on 23 counts involving misuse of his office for personal gain. Ultimately, Hubbard was convicted on 12 counts, though one was overturned on appeal.
During that trial, Hart came under fire when defense attorneys claimed he was leaking grand jury information to the press.
Hart was also involved with the Robert Bentley case, before Bentley pleaded guilty and resigned from office. Additionally, he led the prosecution of former state Rep. Barry Moore, but that trial ended in Moore’s acquittal on all four felony counts.
Moore wasted little time in making his feeling known regarding Hart’s departure.
“Glad he is gone he was abusing the power entrusted to him by the people of Alabama,” Moore said via social media. “Cut from the cloth of the likes of other federal prosecutors with agendas justice was never his goal his political agendas always stole the day.”
Special Prosecutions Division will continue, but Attorney General Steve Marshall has not named a replacement for Hart.
