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Huckabee accepts letter of caution on portrait funds Saturday, May 3, 2008 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The state Ethics Commission issued a letter of caution to former Gov. Mike Huckabee on Friday as settlement of a complaint that Huckabee failed to disclose the names of donors who paid for his portrait that hangs at the state Capitol. The complaint accused Huckabee of violating state ethics law in failing to list the donors on a quarterly financial disclosure form. Huckabee listed only the name of the artist as contributor on the 4th quarter 2007 disclosure. Last month, the former governor and failed GOP presidential candidate disclosed the names of 61 people who contributed nearly $32,000 to a private fund used to pay for the portrait. The disclosure came after the Ethics Commission met behind closed doors to consider the complaint by Jim Parsons of Bella Vista that Huckabee violated a 2001 law that required him to report the names of individuals who gave him gifts worth more than $100. In a letter to Huckabee dated Friday, Ethics Commission chairman Larry Ross referred to a written offer of settlement Huckabee signed April 24 as "acknowledging that you violated (the law)," a conclusion Huckabee lawyer Kevin Crass disputed. The settlement offer Huckabee signed acknowledged only that the commission found there was probable cause for a violation, Crass said. "It would be terribly wrong for someone to conclude that by accepting an offer of a letter of caution he admits he violates the ethics law," Crass said. In an April 21 letter to Huckabee, the commission's director of compliance, Todd Elder, said commission rules recognize that the offer of settlement did not mean the panel had found Huckabee committed a violation. Huckabee signed the offer April 24. Crass said he could not explain the discrepancy between the two commission letters but said the one the governor signed was the only one that mattered. The settlement allowed Huckabee and the commission to resolve the matter with no admission of a violation and no further action, he said. Parsons said he was pleased with the settlement, to a point. "We hope that's a little bit of a slap on the wrist and will tell others to file on time and within the law," Parsons said. "But maybe that's not quite enough. It's kind of like boo-hoo, who cares? It just doesn't seem to matter." |
