Huck Bucks: Ten Grand For A DWI

Update 3: It gets worse, via NRO:

Brady had taken a leave of absence from the governor’s office to run the Victory 2000 Committee, a fundraising and campaign committee directly overseen at that time by Huckabee. The former state GOP official — who wishes to remain anonymous — said that Brady called him about the Fields donation to inform him that the donation was supposed to go to the Victory 2000 account (as opposed to the state party’s treasury, which Huckabee did not control) and told him “that the money was his” and that it was “the governor’s deal.”

Update 2: Just want to point something out, as the parole board was involved before Huckabee's granting of clemency. One of Huckabee's defenses in the Dumond case was that he didn't re-appoint those boards members, suggesting they were out for revenge. As that was 1999 and this case was in 2006, it suggests the parole board was comprised of Huckabee appointees, which could make the ten grand in donations to the Republican Party of Arkansas pertinent to all involved. To coin a phrase, was Huckabee's Arkansas a culture of corruption?

Update: Ouch - an item from 2006

Eugene Fields of Van Buren (Crawford County) was so drunk that he nearly crashed head-on into Barling Police Officer Kevin Dugan on Arkansas 59 in western Arkansas. Fields plead guilty and paid an $800 fine.

Huckabee had granted Fields clemency in April 2004 after the 68-year-old businessman served just six months of his seven-year sentence. He would have been eligible for parole in a few months anyway, but the governor thought Fields had suffered enough and the state parole board let him go early.

Here is the original article on clemency from 2004 - opposed by LE, MADD and just about everyone else.

"Obviously DWI fourth offense is a serious offense and we think he should have served the sentence," Presley said.

Fields was convicted in connection with a traffic accident that occurred near Mike Myer Park in Van Buren on Nov. 15, 2000. A witness told police that a pickup ran off a roadway and struck a park sign and a metal building.

I guess Drudge's glass jaw headline was right. via NBC - ten grand in donations during a period without fund raising going on allegedly got a thrice convicted drunk driver and local business man out of jail. Huckabee's side argued he was rehabilitated. He was convicted of a fourth offense two years later.

Rhonda Sharp, a spokeswoman for the Post Prison Transfer Board, was quoted at the time of Fields' release saying, "I've never seen anything like this before," and called the handling of the case "very unusual." This week, Sharp told NBC News that even though there is no set time period within which an inmate's clemency application must be considered, the process typically takes at least a few months to a year, before being sent to the governor's office. NBC News has no indication that Huckabee had any influence over the parole board's 2003 vote, which recommended Fields' sentence be commuted.

According to Federal Election Commission records, a month after Fields' appeal was denied, his wife made a $5,000 donation to the State Republican Party in June of 2003. A month later, she made an additional $5,000 donation, again to the Republican Party of Arkansas. The following month, Fields reported to prison and began his clemency application process. He was a free man in less than a year.

A former elected official in Arkansas with fundraising experience for the State Republican Party says the timing of Mrs. Fields' donations raises serious questions about their intended purpose. He spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity and says he is not supporting any Republican presidential candidate at the moment.

"In the summer of 2003 there's no real political activity," said the former official. "It's always a tough time to raise money in those periods, and all of sudden $10,000 comes walking through the door when there's no campaign going on? There's no reason to give that kind of money then."

Prior to his wife's donations, Fields had made a $10,000 donation to the Republican Party of Arkansas in October of 2000 under "Fields Investment Company," the name of his business. Both Mrs. Fields' 2003 donations and Mr. Fields' 2000 donation placed them among the largest, individual donors to the Republican Party of Arkansas in those years, on par with donations from members of the Walton family, of the Wal-Mart department store chain. The only other donation made by either Fields to the State Republican Party was in the amount of $500 in August of 2004.

Comments

[Frank G]

WWJD? The evangelical support for the Huckster is embarrassingly in denial of what this man stands for.

[Froggy Level blogger]

Personally, I believe the entire Republican Party is corrupt, and I'm sure all kinds of similar sweetheart deals could be found in every state that has a Republican presense. Stay after these Republicans, more dirt is sure to surface.

[JorgXMcKie]

So, we should just ignore corruption by Democrats? Have you ever heard of the states Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut etc? Or are there 'no governing' authorities when Dems accept illegal donations (Bhuddist nuns? Norman Hsu?) and illegally solicit campaign donations? Is it really, really dark and extremely odoriferous where your head is, Froggy? Are you really okay with corruption by Democrats? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Qwinn]

Indeed, as bad as Arkansas corruption seems, it doesn't hold a candle to the omnipresent monolithic corruption of NJ Democrats.

Qwinn

[Arlo]

Personally, I believe the entire Republican Party is corrupt, and I'm sure all kinds of similar sweetheart deals could be found in every state that has a Republican presense. Stay after these Republicans, more dirt is sure to surface.

Just like you, the dirt keeps coming to the top. Democrat dirt doesn't smell any better, unfortunately. Get the "Glade" out from under your big, pious nose.

[Froggy Level blogger]

Hahaha, you boys sure are touchy. Actually, what I wanted to do was throw a cautionary note into all the Republican bashing that's been going on at this blog. Mr. Riehl may not know it, but he is beating down the Republicans with all the negative comments about Huckabee, because when it all shakes out, whoever the Republican nominee happens to be will be at a disadvantage because many moderates and non-Republicans read these blogs and what they will come away with is a negative impression of Republicans, an impression that will be hard to overcome. Just saying.

[nichevo]

I'm sure that any swing-voter types who come to this blog, and read through this post, will be able to tell that you are a troll, Froggy. Which will immunize them from giving a damn about anything you think you have to say, and relieve them of the burden of trying to parse through your sad lack of English-language skills.

Furthermore, they'll understand your intent and confound it by doing the opposite of whatever it is you're trying to say. I'm pretty sure that will stand out of crystal clear: Find out what Froggy thinks of any issue and jump to the other side.

Bye now, and don't let the blog-door hit you in the butt on your way out. Or do, if you go for that kind of thing.

[Yoda]

Bought he can be, but bought does he stay? Definition of honest politician, this is.

[seekeronos]

Frank's point about "evangelicals" supporting Huckster in light of everything that is surfacing about him is indeed, distressing.