Paroled Rapist Could Haunt Huckabee

GOP Candidate's Record As Arkansas Governor Marred By Controversial Parole Of Wayne DuMond

(CBS)  This story was written by CBSNews.com political reporter Brian Montopoli.

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"When they're kicking you in the rear, it's just proving you're still out front."

Those are the words of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has emerged from relative obscurity to become a legitimate contender for the GOP presidential nomination - and a target of his rivals.

Last Wednesday, Huckabee’s performance in the Republican debate garnered strong reviews. A new Des Moines Register poll in Iowa, home of the influential Jan. 3 caucuses, shows the likeable Baptist minister leading the field.

But success means scrutiny. The anti-tax Club for Growth has been hammering Huckabee over his record on taxes as governor; the Associated Press has spotlighted the 16 ethics complaints filed against him in Arkansas, five of which were found to be violations; his rivals for the GOP nomination have attacked him over his past support for college scholarships for children of illegal immigrants.

And then there's the story of Wayne DuMond.

In 1985, DuMond was convicted of the rape of a 17-year-old girl with a connection to then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton: She was the governor's distant cousin and the daughter of a major campaign contributor.

As Clinton rose to national prominence, the case came to the attention of his critics. Journalists and talk show hosts questioned the victim's story and suggested that DuMond had been railroaded by the former governor. Steve Dunleavy, a New York Post columnist, took up the case as a cause, calling DuMond’s conviction "a travesty of justice."

The story also came with a tabloid-ready twist: DuMond said that while awaiting trial, masked men broke into his house and castrated him. Though there were doubts about the story, it engendered sympathy for DuMond among Clinton foes.

DuMond's sentence had been set at life in prison, plus 20 years. In 1992, Clinton's successor in the Arkansas governor's mansion, Jim Guy Tucker, reduced that sentence to 39 years, making DuMond eligible for parole.

When Huckabee became governor in 1996, he expressed doubts about DuMond's guilt and said he was considering commuting his sentence to time served. After the victim and her supporters protested, Huckabee decided against commutation. But in 1997, according to the Kansas City Star, Huckabee wrote a letter to DuMond saying "my desire is that you be released from prison." Less than a year later, DuMond was granted parole.

Huckabee's office denied that the governor played a role in the parole board's decision, but there was evidence (exhaustively detailed here) to contradict that claim.

Charles Chastain, a Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, who was on the parole board at the time, told CBSNews.com the governor met with the board to argue on DuMond’s behalf.

"He thought DuMond had gotten a raw deal," said Chastain, who calls himself neutral towards Huckabee. "He said he'd been born on the wrong side of the tracks and hadn't been treated all that fairly."

"I don't think the governor quite understood about parole proceedings," added Chastain. "I thought of the parole board as a quasi-judicial body that wouldn't be lobbied or otherwise interfered with by anyone outside of it, so I was a little bit surprised by it."

After the meeting, Chastain said, a number of the board members "switched their vote" from the previous year, and DuMond was paroled.

Joe Carter, director of research for the Huckabee campaign, insists that Huckabee did not seek to pressure the parole board. "If it was such an important issue for him, he would have commuted his sentence," Carter told CBSNews.com.

DuMond's release was delayed because a number of states did not want to take him in, but he left prison in 1999 and ended up in Missouri. Not long after he arrived, he was arrested again - this time for sexually assaulting and murdering a woman named Carol Sue Shields. DuMond was also the leading suspect in the rape and murder of another woman. He was convicted of murdering Shields and died in prison in 2005.

In a statement, Huckabee Press Secretary Alice Stewart told CBSNews.com that Huckabee “had no influence regarding the parole board's decision to release Wayne Dumond.”

“Governor Huckabee had no authority to grant parole to Wayne Dumond or anyone else -- governors don’t have that authority in the parole process,” she said.

According to Arkansas Times editor Max Brantley, who has tangled repeatedly with Huckabee over the years, the governor's influence clearly played a role in DuMond's release from prison.

"In the end, he took a series of actions that can be interpreted only one way: That he was an advocate for Wayne DuMond," said Brantley. "And it was bad judgment. And he's never been willing to take responsibility for it."

"It's an unfortunate incident," said Carter, Huckabee's director of research, of the DuMond case. "He is devastated by what happened, but he felt he did no wrongful action."

[prinzowhales]

Jerome Corsey just said on the Alex Jones Show that if they figured the inflation rate today the way they did in the 1980s that the real inflation rate would be around 12%. If Carter were still president, he would be d*mned up one side and down the other by Bush and the Neo-Con animals.

[prinzowhales]

Huckabee is an open border man...He wants the taxpayers to pay for college for the kids of illegal alliens...Typical anti-American working class Republican candidate who will keep the borders open and sell us out to the New World Order while fighting the hundred years war for resources...since Thompson has sank to the bottom, Giuliani has no chance and Romney is a Bush clown, it looks as if all of the rats from Bush''s prison hulk of state are climbing aboard the Huckabee ***.

[mudrose-2009]

Based on Mike Huckabee''''s record when he was Governor of Arkansas, do you believe he''''s soft on crime?

http://www.youpolls.com/detail
s.asp?pid=1207
Posted by PollM

Oh, like the Dukaka and the Willie Horton revolving door incident. Ain''t nothing like the Dukaka incident. And of course the dimnowits will of course try to create an analogy. Dimnowits, morally inferior.

[PollM]

Based on Mike Huckabee''s record when he was Governor of Arkansas, do you believe he''s soft on crime?

http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=1207

.

[bdribus]

Mike Huckabee is a good man. This article and many of the comments are full of hatred and misinformation. If you want the other side of the story, go to www.mikehuckabee.com.

By the way, if you had been to Arkansas before and after his tenure, you would know why he was named one of the five best governors.

[taylpatr]

The ONLY reason that Huckabee took on this man''s cause is that it was a way to show his contempt for Clinton.It''s really sad that a "man of God" can be so blinded by partisanship that his power of discernment is affected to this degree.This isn''t just a mistake.The blood of those women is on his hands and all the bullsh*t talk in the world won''t wash it off.

[memerider]

This man is a Baptist minister. The Southern Baptists recently regressed to their ancient Paulist roots and fired tenured female professors from Baptist colleges and universities. If another religious fundamentalist is elected, the U.S. will probably succumb to radical Christianity the way Iran and Afghanistan succumbed to radical Islam. Ladies, brace yourselves. They are coming for your freedom.

[kansas1946]

There is just something smarmy about this guy. The Republicans just have a pitiful lineup. You would think out of all the candidates that they have there would be one that might have some presidential qualities. Pitiful.

[incog-nito]

Maybe he IS haunting Huckabee right now. After all, the guy''s been dead for a couple of years.

[ron4mac]

Huckabee spent a lot of behind-the-scenes political capital to get Wayne Durmond out on the streets where he rape and murder.

Now his note has come due and it''s going to cost him as it should.

He worked hard to make it possible that families lost dear ones. It was no simple "mistake" that he made, as one of the posters here would like to toss it off as. Women suffered and died due to his covert actions.

Personally, the only candidate the Republicans have running that is worth a *** is Ron Paul. But he hasn''t much of a chance as long as Republican leadership bows down to the rabid far right idols.

[tinbopper]

Huckabee Claim : Repeatedly dodged questions about his ethical problems while Governor



X Fact: Huckabee was investigated by the ethics commission fourteen times and officially reprimanded FIVE times. (Quin Hillyer, "A Tale Of Two Candidates," American Spectator, 10/24/07)

[tinbopper]

Huckabee Claim : Repeatedly dodged questions about his ethical problems while Governor



X Fact: Huckabee was investigated by the ethics commission fourteen times and officially reprimanded FIVE times. (Quin Hillyer, "A Tale Of Two Candidates," American Spectator, 10/24/07)

[tinbopper]

Huckabee Claim: "I balanced the budget every year of my 10 years as governor... I think my record is an incredibly good one."



X Fact: Arkansas law mandates a balanced budget. Huckabee raised taxes and more than doubled state spending. (Mike Huckabee, "Cutting Taxes and Other Great Ideas for Congress from an Arkansas Governor," Heritage Lecture #645, The Heritage Foundation, 9/29/99, A rkansas Democrat-Gazette , 10/4/07)

X Fact: Immediately upon taking office in 1996, Governor Huckabee signed a sales tax hike into law. (Stephen Moore and Dean Stansel, "A Fiscal Policy Report Card On America''s Governors: 1998," Cato Institute; Joan Duffy, "Critical Ark. School Funds Amendment Goes Untouted," Commercial Appeal, 9/9/96)



Huckabee Claim: "You first deal with the spending issue which I did in my state."



X Fact: State spending more than doubled under Huckabee. "During Huckabee''s 10 years as governor, state spending more than doubled, from $6.6 billion to $16.1 billion in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006." ( Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 10/4/07)

[tinbopper]

Huckabee Fact Check

MIKE HUCKABEE MISLEADS CHRIS WALLACE ABOUT HIS RECORD AS GOVERNOR THIS MORNING ON FOX NEWS SUNDAY:



Huckabee Claim: "We didn''t raise [taxes] on nursing home patients. That was a quality assurance fee."



X Fact: Huckabee implemented a $5.25 per day bed-tax on private nursing home patients. (Associated Press, 8/13/01)



Huckabee Claim: "Here''s what the Club for Growth won''t tell you... They won''t tell you who gave them money. They like to take money from anonymous donors, fire shots at folks without accountability."



X Fact: Huckabee created a ''charitable'' organization - Action America - so he could funnel his speaking fees through the organization and avoid disclosure requirements: "In 1995, [Huckabee] avoided reporting individual sources of income by funneling money through a nonprofit corporation, Action America, that was created and managed by his campaign staff." (Commercial Appeal, 11/9/97)

[tinbopper]

When Republican state senators in Arkansas proposed legislation modeled after Arizona''s Proposition 200 [to require proof of citizenship for voting and public benefits], "Huckabee described it as ''inflammatory ... race-baiting ... demagoguery.'' He said the bill, which seeks to forbid public assistance and voting rights to illegal immigrants, ''inflames those who are racist and bigots and makes them think there''s a real problem. But there''s not.''" (Governor says anti-illegals measure could scare off companies like Toyota," A ssociated Press, 2/3/05)

Opposed a raid on illegal immigrants in an Arkansas poultry plant even though calls to his office were "about 1,000 to one" against his stance. (Melissa Nelson, "Huckabee Risks Political Fortunes To Denounce Immigration Raid," Associated Press, 8/5/05)

Helped lead the effort to open a Mexican Consulate in Little Rock to issue Matricula Consular cards to Mexicans living in the U.S. (including those in the U.S. illegally). Many banks, including some in Arkansas, accept the card as a valid form of identification. (Jon Gambrell, "Ark. Candidates Criticize Mexican Matricula Cards," AP, 10/18/06)

[tinbopper]

In Arkansas:
As Governor, Huckabee fought for in-state tuition and taxpayer funded scholarships for illegal immigrants. He opposed legislation to require proof of citizenship in order to obtain public benefits and to vote. He vocally opposed a raid on a factory in Arkansas that employed illegal immigrants. And he led an effort to bring a Mexican Consulate to Arkansas - one of the main functions of the Consulate would be to issue identification cards to Mexicans living, both legally and illegally, in the U.S.

Championed an effort in Arkansas to give in-state tuition at state colleges and taxpayer-funded scholarships to illegal immigrants, similar to the DREAM Act proposal at the federal level. (Laura Kellams, "Senators research U.S. law on aliens," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 1/27/05)

[tinbopper]

Huckabee Liberal on Immigration

Federal Level:
2006: Supported President Bush''s immigration plan and claimed that opposition to Bush''s proposal was driven by "racism or nativism" and that it wasn''t amnesty. ( Ralph Hallow, "Huckabee ''Serious'' About Presidency," Washington Times, 5/17/06)

Wrote in his 2007 book that implementing strict enforcement of immigration laws "would be sheer folly" and that it made sense to give "those here illegally a process through which they pay a reasonable fine in admission of their guilt for the past infraction of violating our border laws and agree to adhere to a pathway toward legal status and citizenship." (Mike Huckabee, From Hope to Higher Ground, 2007, p. 117-118)

[tinbopper]

HUCK CHECK #3 : Huckabee tried to laugh off the video of him begging the Arkansas Legislature for a tax increase by saying "I was in a state of sugar stupor." He then claims that the clip was "taken out of context" and that he "was giving a put up or shut up speech to the legislature who had been saying we have a $200 million dollar deficit and we don''t like any proposal the governor has to fix it. So I said ok, you don''t like my proposals, here''s one of yours, I''ll take it." In reality, Huckabee consistently increased taxes throughout his time as Governor and turned first to raising taxes, not cutting government spending, to offset his spending habit.

* Reality : Under Huckabee, 21 tax increases went into effect. (Daniel Nasaw, "10-Year Record On Taxes Studied," Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 10/9/07)
* Reality : Under Huckabee, there was a net tax increase of $505 million, adjusted for inflation and economic growth. (Daniel Nasaw, "10-Year Record On Taxes Studied," Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 10/9/07)
* Reality : The tax increase Huckabee begged for in the video was to cover general revenue spending. Instead of cutting wasteful government spending, Huckabee looked to take more from Arkansas taxpayers.

[tinbopper]

HUCK CHECK #2 : Huckabee claimed "it''s not the purpose of the federal government to see how many people we can employ." But an examination of his Administration concluded that "state government grew more during his time as governor than during Bill Clinton''s." (John Brummett, "Pro-Life, Pro-Gun Liberal," Arkansas News Bureau, 11/4/07)

* Reality: He added 8,000 state workers to the payroll. "Meanwhile, the state added about 8,000 full-time workers to its payroll during that period, according to the Bureau of Legislative Research. That''s a 19 percent increase." (Daniel Nasaw, "Home Turf Not Rock Solid For Huckabee," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 10/4/07)
* Reality: Increased Spending. Under Huckabee, state spending increased by over 65%, three times the rate of inflation. (Americans for Tax Reform, "Governor Huckabee''s Record on Taxes," 1/7/07)

[tinbopper]

Huckabee''s Tax Increases: No laughing matter

Mike Huckabee appeared tonight on CNN''s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and once again tried to laugh away his record as governor of Arkansas. Huckabee should stop cracking jokes about raising taxes and start taking responsibility for his actions.

Excerpted quotes from Mike Huckabee on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, November 29, 2007

HUCK CHECK #1 : Huckabee claimed that if you dismantle the IRS and implement the Fair Tax, make "the federal government operate more efficiently...[and] get rid of a $10 billion industry." In reality, Huckabee''s plan replaces one government bureaucracy with another.

* Reality: "It is true that the Fair Tax would get rid of the agency that we now call the IRS. But, according to the bill Huckabee supports: ''There shall be in the Department of the Treasury a Sales Tax Bureau to administer the national sales tax in those States where it is required.'' So, Huckabee would ''eliminate'' the IRS by replacing it with a Sales Tax Bureau." ("GOP YouTube Debate Flubs," FactCheck.org, 11/29/07)