fayfreethinkers.com

DOUG
A man, Wayne DuMond, sexually assaulted a cheerleader here in Arkansas, in Forrest City, in 1985. This was while Huckabee was governor. But since the victim was a relative of Clinton (a distant cousin), the rabid right wingers decided that in order to piss off Clinton, the rapist should be freed. So they started spreading rumours that DuMond was innocent.

They convinced Huckabee to get the guy out of prison. He intended to do so, based solely on the fact that the poor woman who was the victim was related to Clinton. Huckabee joined in the anti-Clinton frenzy, even if it meant freeing a convicted rapist. Huckabee stated that he was going to commute DuMond's sentence to time served. The state parole board hastily convened with Huckabee and he insisted that they parole DuMond. They did, four days before Huckabee's "deadline" to commute DuMond's sentence. Huckabee did not allow any recordings of that meeting with the parole board, and that and several other aspects of the meeting were illegal. Huckabee really went out of his way to get DuMond out.

Freed, DuMond then went to Kansas City and killed a woman there. One for sure, and perhaps another one. He died in prison in 2005.

Now Huckabee is lying about his role in the whole matter, and in fact tries to blame Clinton! These people have no conscience.

See here.
And here.
And here.

Length of time that it took DuMond to rape and kill a woman after he moved to Missouri: six weeks. (DNA in tissue under her fingernails proves he was guilty.) He was also the leading suspect in the rape and murder of a second woman in Missouri shortly thereafter.

These people are jahidists - they will do anything, say anything, to kill the "evil clinton". I'm not sure there's been a decent, trustworthy R either in the White House or running for it since Bill McKinley was assassinated (well, TR did have some good points).

DOUG
I knew it would eventually come out. Huckabee is in deep doo-doo now.

========

...While on the campaign trail, Huckabee has claimed that he supported the 1999 release of Wayne Dumond because, at the time, he had no good reason to believe that the man represented a further threat to the public. Thanks to Huckabee's intervention, conducted in concert with a right-wing tabloid campaign on Dumond's behalf, Dumond was let out of prison 25 years before his sentence would have ended.

"There's nothing any of us could ever do," Huckabee said Sunday on CNN when asked to reflect on the horrific outcome caused by the prisoner's release. "None of us could've predicted what [Dumond] could've done when he got out."

But the confidential files obtained by the Huffington Post show that Huckabee was provided letters from several women who had been sexually assaulted by Dumond and who indeed predicted that he would rape again - and perhaps murder - if released.

In a letter that has never before been made public, one of Dumond's victims warned: "I feel that if he is released it is only a matter of time before he commits another crime and fear that he will not leave a witness to testify against him the next time." Before Dumond was granted parole at Huckabee's urging, records show that Huckabee's office received a copy of this letter from Arkansas' parole board.

The woman later wrote directly to Huckabee about having been raped by Dumond. In a letter obtained by the Huffington Post, she said that Dumond had raped her while holding a butcher knife to her throat, and while her then-3-year-old daughter lay in bed next to her. Also included in the files sent to Huckabee's office was a police report in which Dumond confessed to the rape. Dumond was not charged in that particular case because he later refused to sign the confession and because the woman was afraid to press charges.

[See the full letters sent to Huckabee's office at the website.]

Huckabee kept these and other documents secret because they were politically damaging...

In 1996, as a newly elected governor who had received strong support from the Christian right, Huckabee was under intense pressure from conservative activists to pardon Dumond or commute his sentence. The activists claimed that Dumond's initial imprisonment and various other travails were due to the fact that Ashley Stevens, the high school cheerleader he had raped, was a distant cousin of Bill Clinton, and the daughter of a major Clinton campaign contributor.

The case for Dumond's innocence was championed in Arkansas by Jay Cole, a Baptist minister and radio host who was a close friend of the Huckabee family. It also became a cause for New York Post columnist Steve Dunleavy, who repeatedly argued for Dumond's release, calling his conviction "a travesty of justice." On Sept. 21, 1999, Dunleavy wrote a column headlined "Clinton's Biggest Crime - Left Innocent Man In Jail For 14 Years"...

Read the rest here.

The case for Dumond's innocence was championed in Arkansas by Jay Cole, a Baptist minister and radio host who was a close friend of the Huckabee family.

Oh tell me ain't so. Tell me that old drug-addicted Rev Cole didn't support a pervert of major portions out of political alliances.

And the frog's warm water gets hotter: After denying he pushed for the release of convicted rapist, Wayne Dumond, his own former staff comes forward:

Huckabee Aide: Gov Pushed for Rapist's Freedom

December 05, 2007 6:00 PM
Brian Ross Reports:

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee made a rare personal appeal to release a convicted rapist from prison, a former top aide to the GOP presidential hopeful confirmed to ABC News.

Butch Reeves, formerly the criminal justice counsel to the Arkansas governor's office, handled all requests for clemencies and communications with prisoners.

His account of a key 1996 meeting between then-Gov. Huckabee and the state parole board largely supports an earlier version of the meeting by former board member Charles Chastain. It contrasts with Huckabee's position that he did not pressure the board.

"At their invitation, I went to their meeting. Someone brought up his case," Huckabee said Tuesday, describing his meeting with the board. "Frankly it was simply part of a broader discussion. I did not ask them to do anything."

In a phone interview, Reeves said Huckabee told the board members he thought there was "something nefarious" about the criminal justice system in Dumond's case, and that the rapist got a "raw deal." Huckabee said he believed Dumond's sentence, originally a life sentence plus 20 years, was "way out of bounds" for his crime, raping a 17-year-old high school student.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/200 ... ide-g.html

I don't think it's fair to use this story to discredit Huckabee. There were huge campaigns to free Drumond and if you'll remember they had some very convincing arguments - not the least of which was that his balls had been cut off and put in a jar. I'd have freed him, too, under the circumstances. It's just a horrifying shame (and kind of baffling) that he went out and raped someone else...

Every prosecutor involved knew Dumond's LONG history with violent crime, mostly against women. This was BEFORE he raped the Stevens girl. The only campaigns, pro-Dumond, that I ever heard of came from the "hate Clinton" camps, of which there were many. Was Rev Jay Cole your minister back then Betsy?

[/img]

In case you missed Mr. Mike's lies about the Wayne Dumond affair you may watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubuq2KZIHfo

DAR
I think this story has limited ability to effect Huckabee. Seems a bit of a cheap shot. No one would think he could know this was going to happen. Worst case, lies excluded, he erred on the side of being too compassionate toward the guy (which doesn't help him with repubs of course) with disastrous results. Maybe there's much more to this case I am not seeing?

D.

Betsy wrote:It's just a horrifying shame (and kind of baffling) that he went out and raped someone else...

DOUG
Except that rape isn't a crime motivated by sex...

Darrel wrote:DAR
I think this story has limited ability to effect Huckabee. Seems a bit of a cheap shot. No one would think he could know this was going to happen. Worst case, lies excluded, he erred on the side of being too compassionate toward the guy (which doesn't help him with repubs of course) with disastrous results. Maybe there's much more to this case I am not seeing?

D.

DOUG
It had nothing to do with compassion. Huckabee had the guy released because his latest victim was a relative of Clinton and they knew it would piss off Clinton. That's it. It was motivated by hatred of Clinton, not compassion for anyone.

And the guy's long history of crimes against women, and the testimony of his victims, should have been enough to keep the guy in prison.

Two women are DEAD because Huckabee wanted to piss off Clinton.

DOUG
"Huckabee had the guy released because his latest victim was a relative of Clinton and they knew it would piss off Clinton."

DAR
I have a hard time believing that and I imagine a lot of other people will too. However, I am also not getting the Jay Cole type support for Dumont's release. This really was about Clinton hatred?

However, I am also not getting the Jay Cole type support for Dumont's release. This really was about Clinton hatred?

by DAR

Spend some time reading the articles, especially Murray Waas' article Doug linked above in the first part. Waas quotes people who were actually there on the parole board during the Dumond parole matter.

Whether it was compassion or political revenge it matters little. If compassion then he exercised poor judgment and is now lying about it. Dumond's entire criminal history was there for him to review. Additionally Huck brags during R debates that he presided over more executions than any other recent Ark gov.

If he became bound up in the Clinton Revenge, which was very heavy at the time, he should be ashamed and publicly embarrassed for that.

I'm waiting for Jim Guy Tucker and Bill Clinton to speak up on the issue since Huck keeps blaming both them for his mistake which is a habit with him. It's true that Tucker "commuted" Dumond's sentence. Guv Tucker reduced it from a life sentence to 39 1/2 years. Former Guv Tucker did not entirely commute his sentence. Huck wanted Wayne Dumond paroled. Plain and simple. He wrote Dumond a letter to that effect which many saw and the letter disappeared. Now he is lying about it. The Waas article (published on Huffington) tells the truth about parole board members who were at the hearing when Huckabee ILLEGALLY called for a closed, executive session and had the recording secretary turn off the recording device so there would be no record of the session. In that session Huck brought pressure on the board to parole Dumond. Now he lies about it.
.
On another note-
Huckabee is now doing what George Bush did, saying that god is behind all his recent victories, god wants him to be president:

Huckabee: Divine Providence Helps My Poll Numbers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSQNSlUUoOc

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the day that George W. Bush was sworn into his second term as governor of Texas, friend and adviser Dr. Richard Land recalls Bush making an unexpected pronouncement.

"The day he was inaugurated there were several of us who met with him at the governor's mansion," says Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "And among the things he said to us was, 'I believe that God wants me to be president.'"

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline ... opsis.html

LaWood wrote:

Waas quotes people who were actually there on the parole board during the Dumond parole matter.

DAR
But since no one wants to take credit for making this horrible mistake you can certainly see that the parole board, who actually have the responsibility and authority to make the decision to parole, would have a strong incentive to blame someone else.

Whether it was compassion or political revenge it matters little. If compassion then he exercised poor judgment...

DAR
Right. And people may forgive poor judgment in this instance. People may even feel bad, empathize, for the Huckster. Especially if the other side over plays it and tries to imply that it was in some way a desired outcome.

and is now lying about it.

DAR
Can you point to one or two verifiable lies. What happened at the parole board meeting is a he said/she said with incentives to fudge it on both sides. Huckabee says these parole people didn't come forward with this until six years later. Is that true?

Huck wanted Wayne Dumond paroled. Plain and simple. He wrote Dumond a letter to that effect which many saw and the letter disappeared.

DAR
If you watch the youtube video you posted above for Betsy, Blitzer confronts Huckabee with that direct quote from his letter. Huckabee confirms it so there is no dispute that Huckabee wanted him paroled.

D.

Darrel wrote:But since no one wants to take credit for making this horrible mistake you can certainly see that the parole board, who actually have the responsibility and authority to make the decision to parole, would have a strong incentive to blame someone else.

DOUG
AND Huckabee insisted on not having the hearing recorded, which is against policy.

AND only conservatives were trying to get DuMond released. What does that tell you?

It's not as if Huckabee could show that a miscarriage of justice was done, or that the evidence was shaky. So what does that suggest?

And ask yourself, when was the last time Jay Cole, rabid Clinton-hater, seemed concerned with the fate of a convicted rapist? Or of any convict?

See "How Anti-Clinton Zealots Pushed Huckabee To Let A Rapist Free" at this website.

Includes:
"Huckabee saw East Arkansas County [where Dumond was arrested] as a Democratic political machine and probably assumed the worst," Jay Barth, a political science professor at Arkansas' Hendrix College and an authority on state politics, told the Huffington Post. "There were people pushing that story and Huckabee was clearly susceptible to it. But he also had this basic notion that people can be taken care of through the system... You have to recognize what an immature - in terms of time - governor, Huckabee was at that point. I don't know if the Mike Huckabee of four years later would have been susceptible to these forces."

...Indeed, just one year before Huckabee ascended to the governor's chair, another criminal case became a vehicle for Clinton hatred. In 1995, a woman named Sharlene Wilson was convicted of several counts of criminal drug possession. She became a cause celebre for conservatives who theorized that Wilson had damaging information on Clinton and his brother Roger's supposed drug use (among other nefarious activities) and was set up and put in jail because of it.

"I think the hatred to Clinton played a big role in Huckabee's decision [to push for Dumond's parole]," said a prominent legal figure in the state, who asked to remain anonymous. "If there wasn't a connection to Clinton he wouldn't have been involved and there must have been something deeply affecting him that would have caused him to go to the parole board and lobby for this."

...As reported by Murray Waas for the Huffington Post, Huckabee was also sent letters from Dumond's previous victims, as well as the victim's family members, detailing harrowing accounts of rapes and violence.

Huckabee didn't even have to open the mail. According to Fletcher Long, Ashley Stevens attorney, five hundred feet from the governor's office was a transcript of the Stevens' case, within which was printed Dumond's lengthy rap sheet.

"From what I understand," Long told the Huffington Post, "he never bothered to look at it."

..."The whole deal about the Dumond case, and it can be overanalyzed, was that this was a bad guy with a proven record of sexual misconduct and violence. This is the last guy you want to set free," Max Brantly, executive editor of the Arkansas Times and one of the chief chroniclers of the Dumond case, told the Huffington Post. "And Huckabee formed the judgment to do this not after consulting anyone but after being sold a story and buying it. It's kind of like Bush and weapons and mass destruction."

Huck attacks Huffington Post, Arianna answers:

Huckabee Tries to Shoot the Messenger, But Wounds His Campaign Instead

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-h ... 75711.html


and for another Howler of the Day..Huck actually posts this:

MIKE HUCKABEE NEWS RELEASE

Former Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee is releasing "The Secure America Plan: A Nine-Point Strategy for Immigration Enforcement and Border Security," it was announced today.

1. Build the Fence
............

5. Establish an Economic Border


· Move toward passage of the FairTax.
· The FairTax provides an extra layer of security by creating an economic disincentive to immigrate to the U.S. illegally.

http://tinyurl.com/2vp4vo

I was just speaking from what I remember about the case at the time. I read lots of articles and letters to the editor and newspaper columns when it was going on and they all built up Dumond as being railroaded and mutilated and his poor wife struggled for years to get him out and blah blah blah, it was all very convincing and, like I said, I would have been compassionate and let him out, too. True, Huckabee would have had a lot more information about the matter and probably should have known better, but there was a LOT of pressure to let the man out of jail.

LaWood wrote:Huck attacks Huffington Post, Arianna answers:

Huckabee Tries to Shoot the Messenger, But Wounds His Campaign Instead

DAR
Wow. good article. Maybe this rape thing is going to hurt Huckabee. I'll have to read the original Huffington article.

And this was interesting:

When asked by a young man what Huckabee attributes his recent surge in polls to, Huckabee responded:

"There's only one explanation for it, and it's not a human one. It's the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of five thousand people. And that's the only way that our campaign could be doing what it's doing. And I'm not being facetious, nor am I trying to be trite. There literally are thousands of people across this country who are praying that a little will become much. And it defies all explanation. It has confounded the pundits, and I'm enjoying every minute of their trying to figure it out. And until they look at it from an experience just beyond human, they'll never figure it out. And that's probably just as well. That's honestly why it's happening."

Good grief. A bigger religious nut than Bush.

DOUG said:
Except that rape isn't a crime motivated by sex...

DAR
I know there are some theories about that but I have a hard believing that too. I think there is a lot of rape that is motivated by sex.

D.

Darrel in our society sex and violence are so intertwined, it's sometimes hard to sort them out, but rape is not about sex, it's about power. We live in a rape society, where "blame the victim" has been the drug of choice for centuries - but it's still about power. Sick people who feel powerless, whether or not they actually are powerless, in their personal lives use rape (among other nastinesses) to make themselves feel powerful. (Heterosexual males in prison don't rape newbys because they are horny, they rape newbys to show who's boss in a situation where the real power is in the hands of the jailers.) If they are sick enough, they beat people to death in the process. Dumond kinds of people are why I can't 100% oppose the death penalty.

Betsy, the kind of newspaper coverage/letters to the editors you remember from the Dumond thing are why we now have the Rapid Responders.

yes, remember MIke Masterson wrote many lengthy columns about how horribly and unfairly Dumond had been treated and how he should be freed. I haven't noticed him saying much about that now...