Huckabee issued letter of caution by ethics panel

By The Associated Press

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee has been issued a public letter of caution by the Arkansas Ethics Commission for not revealing the donors who gave nearly $32,000 to a private fund to pay for his official portrait.

Graham Sloan, the commission's executive director, said Friday the letter was issued through a settlement reached with the former Republican presidential candidate.

Last month, Huckabee revealed the donors in response to an ethics complaint that he violated a 2001 law requiring him to report the names of those giving gifts to him on behalf of the state.

The letter marks the sixth time the ethics panel has found a violation by Huckabee. He was not fined by the commission, Sloan said.

Kevin Crass, an attorney for Huckabee, did not immediately return a call Friday afternoon.

Sixty-one staffers, appointees and lobbyists gave $31,815 to the fund established to pay for Huckabee's official portrait at the state Capitol, according to an amended report he filed with the commission after Crass met with the panel in a closed-door hearing.

A report filed with the commission last year says Huckabee received a portrait to hang in the state Capitol building valued at between $40,000 and $50,000. The report listed Nancy Harris, who painted the portrait, as the donor, but does not list any other donors. The portrait by Harris, a Williamsburg, Va., artist, was unveiled Nov. 9, 2006.

Huckabee has faced repeated questions about his acceptance of gifts and has tangled with the state's Ethics Commission. Before Friday, the panel had investigated 16 complaints against Huckabee and found five violations. Only one, for accepting a $500 canoe from Coca-Cola, was tossed out.

During his 10 1/2 years as governor, Huckabee accepted 314 gifts valued overall at more than $150,000, according to documents filed with the secretary of state's office. He accepted 187 gifts in his first three years as governor but was not required to report their value.

Shortly before leaving office, Huckabee defended wedding-gift registries set up to furnish Huckabee's new $525,000 home in North Little Rock. Friends set up the accounts for Huckabee and his wife Janet, who have been married since 1974.

The complaint was filed against Huckabee by Jim Parsons of Bella Vista, who has lodged numerous ethics complaints against politicians over the years. The Ethics Commission last year dismissed two complaints he filed against Huckabee over the destruction of hard drives from the governor's office.

In January, a judge dismissed a lawsuit Parsons filed against Huckabee in Pulaski County over the hard drives. That suit accused the former governor of illegally using government funds to destroy them and to aid the Mexican government in locating a consulate in Arkansas' capital city.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox had previously denied a Freedom of Information complaint filed by Parsons that requested that Huckabee turn over the hard drives.

Huckabee dropped out of the Republican presidential race in March after Arizona Sen. John McCain clinched the number of delegates necessary to secure the nomination.