Dumond Docs

Murray Waas has a heck of a scoop demolishing Mike Huckabee's line on Wayne Dumond, the rapist he let out of jail who went on to graduate to murder:

Confidential Arkansas state government records, including letters from these women, obtained by the Huffington Post and revealed publicly for the first time, directly contradict the version of events now being put forward by Huckabee. [...]

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. [...]

Huckabee kept these and other documents secret because they were politically damaging, according to a former aide who worked for him in Arkansas. The aide has made the records available to the Huffington Post, deeply troubled by Huckabee's repeated claims that he had no reason to believe Dumond would commit other violent crimes upon his release from prison. The aide also believes that Huckabee, for political reasons, has deliberately attempted to cover up his knowledge of Dumond's other sexual assaults. [...]

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.

A stark reminder both of how crazy the craziness was in anti-Clinton circles and also of how influential it was. This is a giant country, so there'll always be a certain number of nutters out there. But in the 1990s, the Clinton conspiracy theorists were in the driver's seat, getting governors to release rapists and people died. Appalling stuff.

Comments

Hmmm. Looks like it's Wayne Dumond day on theatlantic.com.
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Posted by Grand Moff Texan | December 5, 2007 12:41 PM

Interesting, then, that Huckabee has recently begun emphasizing that he, alone among the Republican aspirants, has previously campaigned against "the Clinton machine" (his phrase) and won. If he wants to play up the Huckabee-Clinton rivalry he's practically asking for this Dumond business to get more play in the press.

Posted by Ryan | December 5, 2007 12:44 PM

Yeah--I think it's time to hold a good old-fashioned exorcism.

Or maybe we can just render them Left Behind. Eye for an eye and all that, you know....

Posted by elle loco | December 5, 2007 12:56 PM

C'mon, this isn't a consensual sex act, or a money-losing land deal! Murder, war -- who cares?

Posted by Gore/Edwards 08 | December 5, 2007 12:57 PM

A stark reminder both of how crazy the craziness was in anti-Clinton circles and also of how influential it was.

Also a stark reminder that "No one could have predicted" is now the official motto of the Smash and Grab Party, formerly the GOP.

Posted by DrBB | December 5, 2007 1:01 PM

Does anybody know the mechanics of why a governor would get involved in an individual rape parole case? Is that a common thing?

As much as right wingers suck, to suggest that they wanted to get a rapist free because he got Bill Clinton's cousing seems idiotic to me...

Posted by Todd In Seattle | December 5, 2007 1:05 PM

It's true, Todd. This page has a reprint of a 1996 article from the New York Post about the case.

Posted by neil | December 5, 2007 1:08 PM

Hmmm sorry...I just read the article by Waas, after the comment. Rookie commenter mistake. So Huckabee's pal personally intervened in the case, saying that the rape "never happened"...

Posted by Todd In Seattle | December 5, 2007 1:15 PM

Just cause it's idiotic don't mean it ain't true.

Posted by AlanC9 | December 5, 2007 1:17 PM

It depends on what the definition of "he lobbied them to release Dumond" is.

Posted by Huckleberry | December 5, 2007 1:21 PM

*yawn*

I have no love for Huckabee, but I have a hard time blaming him for not heeding a victim's warning letter. I guarantee for every criminal that gets paroled (including the many that go out and never commit another crime in their lives), there's a letter from a victim predicting repeat crimes and BEGGING that the person not be released. That's what victims do.

We don't put victims on juries, and we don't let them decide punishment FOR A REASON. And a victim prediction does not - in my mind - constitute some kind of hard evidence that should change a governor's mind.

I just think that whole part of the story is a red herring.

Governors pressure pardon boards, they listen to interest groups on what decisions they should make. What the hell else is new? This story is just a tiny link in a chain of a corrupted and broken justice system, and I don't think it makes Huckabee any different from anyone else.

Posted by ssdag | December 5, 2007 1:23 PM

Wouldn't it be funny if the source for Waas' docs was the same quarter as the people who lobbied for Dumond's release in the first place (i.e., right-wing maniac Arkansans who want to thwart Huckabee's rise because he's not a racist and doesn't despise poor people)?

Posted by kth | December 5, 2007 1:24 PM

Among other things, it points out that Huckabee for all his religious cant is an opportunistic politico with a spine as strong as jello.

I know I speak the obvious, but it hasn't been made explicit. Don't give the bastiges wiggle room.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | December 5, 2007 1:27 PM

Remember the Willie Horton ads and what they did to the Dukakis campaign....this is a problem for Huckabee. It may not be the last, now that he has risen in the polls.

Posted by djeri | December 5, 2007 1:45 PM

The woman provided Huckabee with her personal phone number in hopes that he or at least someone on his staff would call. She says that she never heard back.

What was left unsaid in her letter to Huckabee was that she was three years old when, in the 1970s, Dumond raped her mother. The girl was in her mother's bed asleep when the rape occurred. Dumond held a butcher's knife to her mother's throat during the assault.

In an interview, her mother told the Huffington Post how she fought with Dumond to wrestle the knife away from him, willing to risk her own life rather than suffer at Dumond's hands.

But Dumond overcame her resistance. He pointed to her daughter sleeping next to her and threatened: "If you don't cooperate with me, she'll be next."

The woman did as she was told. As Dumond continued to violently rape her, the woman recalled, she lay consciously and deliberately silent. Even as she was being assaulted, she gently stroked her daughter's hair, praying she would not wake up.

You put that woman in front of a camera, and the GOP's new favorite young earth creationist is politically dead.
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Posted by Grand Moff Texan | December 5, 2007 1:52 PM

Governors pressure pardon boards, they listen to interest groups on what decisions they should make. What the hell else is new?

Well, the interest groups in question were not 'interest groups' so much as paranoid conspiracy theorists, motivated not by any general principle of justice but by specific hatred of a single individual *not connected to the case*, namely Bill Clinton. That factor would seem to lift this case well out of the run-of-the-mill.

Posted by Ryan | December 5, 2007 1:53 PM

That's a horrible story, and it makes me question Huckabee's judgment.

But I have to agree with Todd. To argue that Huckabee freed a rapist to appease his anti-Clinton constituency is venal and idiotic. It may have come to his attention via lobbying, but for a governor almost everything does. Unless you're arguing that he should have rejected any lobbyist's pet issue as fruit of the poisonous tree, the issue here is not political malfeasance but judgment.

Huckabee's desire to let this sleeping dog lie is certainly politically motivated, though I also suspect this was a real personal tragedy for him as well. So let loose on his attempt to guard information and on his dissembling -- he's earned it. But have some decency -- he's a fellow human being who made a horrendous error of judgment which resulted in irrevocable loss of life and shattered two families. Until we know otherwise, that's as far as we should go.

Posted by JA | December 5, 2007 1:57 PM

But what does Chuck Norris say?

Posted by Nat | December 5, 2007 2:01 PM

I concur with those above who have a hard time believing the insinuation Matt seems to be making here. Huckabee really set a rapist free simply because his victim happenned to be a Clinto supporter? Marc Ambinder notes that most of the members of the parole board that approved Dumond's release were themselves Clinton appointees, which casts doubt on that explanation.

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/12/wayne_dumond_case_it_huckabee_1.php

I see this as more likely a case of Huckabee's religious zealotry going too far. He probably thought Dumond really had experienced a spiritual rebirth, that God had changed the man, and thus he set free this predator and allowed him to strike again.

Posted by CV | December 5, 2007 2:16 PM

What's amzing to me is that the Republican party can come up with such a uniformly awful set of candidates. There's not a single one of them that I could even think about supporting for more than five minutes, and that includes Ron Paul.

Posted by goethean | December 5, 2007 2:18 PM

We don't put victims on juries, and we don't let them decide punishment FOR A REASON. And a victim prediction does not - in my mind - constitute some kind of hard evidence that should change a governor's mind.

I just think that whole part of the story is a red herring.

And speaking of red herrings, the main point here is that Huckabee covered up these records. Or were you too concerned with the red herring red herring?

Posted by ed | December 5, 2007 2:19 PM

Dunleavy's 1996 NY Post column [linked by neil at 1:08pm] really needs to be read, just in case anyone has forgotten the level of right-wing insanity achieved during the Clinton years. When reading the NY Post story, it helps to stop and remind yourself that Dunleavy's Dumond, described as a "father of six, Vietnam veteran, churchgoer..." had multiple prior arrests (including beating a man to death with a hammer, and assaulting a teenage girl). Somehow, this didn't make it into the column--probably would've made the sense of outrage and injustice a little murkier.

In light of Huckabee's current denial that he played a direct role in the release of Dumond, it's interesting to see the following quotes from Dumond's wife in 1996: "'The new governor, Mike Huckabee, has assured me Wayne will be a free man,' Mrs. Dumond said Thursday. 'He is not one of the Clinton crowd. He is a very fair man. He has always been disturbed about the way the Clinton people never wanted my husband free,' she added."

And from that same article, Dumond's wife is quoted as saying: "I just want to give up. But now, who knows? The new governor has personally assured me that Wayne's case will be the first thing on his desk after he clears up everything with this Whitewater thing."

Dunleavy also reports in his 1996 column that then-Governor Huckabee's spokesman "told me Friday that Huckabee 'has voiced a very special intention to thoroughly review the case of Wayne Dumond.'"

Those contemporary statements seem to contradict now-candidate Huckabee's claim that he played no direct role in Dumond's release. From Waas' article: "But Huckabee and his aides insist that his receipt of the letters is irrelevant because the decision to release Dumond was made by the parole board. Huckabee on Tuesday again denied allegations by former parole board members that he lobbied them to release Dumond. 'I did not ask them to do anything,' he said. 'I did indicate [Dumond's case] was sitting at my desk and I was giving thought to it.'"

Apologies for the long comment, but this whole thing is pretty ugly. And it's worth discussing, since this is a case where the right-wing's lunatic loathing of Clinton lead--only somewhat indirectly--to the death of two women. I haven't heard of "Bush derangement syndrome" claiming any similar victims.

Posted by Chesser | December 5, 2007 2:21 PM

And I apologize for not formatting the block quotes in a way that is at all readable.

Posted by Chesser | December 5, 2007 2:24 PM

JA, that's just not true. This was a cause celebre among the anti-Clinton jihadis in the 1990s, in the New York Post and elsewhere. (Previous Waas article on the subject). According to the Arkansas officials interviewed in that article, Huckabee declined to pay attention to victims' statements because he'd already been convinced by Dumond's delusional, Clinton-hating, movement-conservative advocates.

Posted by Elvis Elvisberg | December 5, 2007 2:34 PM

"Among other things, it points out that Huckabee for all his religious cant is an opportunistic politico with a spine as strong as jello."

As opposed to the far more typical principled American politician who has a spine of steel.

Posted by kafka | December 5, 2007 2:46 PM

Marc Ambinder notes that most of the members of the parole board that approved Dumond's release were themselves Clinton appointees, which casts doubt on that explanation.

Why? Are we assuming that they were aware of Huckabee's motivations? Are we assuming that a seemingly pro-Clinton position in 1999 was a comfortable position to take?

Still doesn't explain the cover up.
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Posted by Grand Moff Texan | December 5, 2007 2:47 PM

I see this as more likely a case of Huckabee's religious zealotry going too far. He probably thought Dumond really had experienced a spiritual rebirth, that God had changed the man, and thus he set free this predator and allowed him to strike again.

And that makes it ok? That's just as bad a reason as any other. Is the fact that Bush thinks God told him to invade Iraq make it fine and dandy?

When people are irrational there are tragic consequences, even if the irrationality is based on smarmy evangelical "I have looked into their heart and seen that they have changed" type of thinking.

Posted by Jim W | December 5, 2007 2:48 PM

Does this reduce to:

"Christian conservative leaders believe it's ok to rape a clinton"?

If not, what does it reduce to?

Posted by Benton | December 5, 2007 2:54 PM

Does this reduce to:

"Christian conservative leaders believe it's ok to rape a clinton"?

If not, what does it reduce to?

At the very least it reduces to "Christian conservative leaders believe that is in their interests to appease right-wing Clinton-hating lunatics who, it would appear, believe that it's OK to rape a Clinton."

Posted by ed | December 5, 2007 3:15 PM

They actually didn't believe he had raped a Clinton. They thought he got framed for raping a Clinton and put away for a crime he didn't commit because Clinton is a thug who just wanted to punish somebody.

Posted by neil | December 5, 2007 3:22 PM

And that makes it ok? That's just as bad a reason as any other. Is the fact that Bush thinks God told him to invade Iraq make it fine and dandy?

I never said that made it OK! My point is exactly that Huckabee's gullibility in the face of this predator's professions of faith shows that his judgment is highly suspect.

Posted by CV | December 5, 2007 3:24 PM

Well, that's what my mind jumped to when I read it above (the suggestion that the right wingers think it's okay to rape a clinton relative). Upon further reading, the right wingers were pushing to free him because they said he was *innocent* of the crime.

Here, the batshit insane stuff is that they automatically believed a raped 17 year old girl was a liar because she was a clinton relative, or something like this.

I hope this scumbag Dunleavy is getting what's due to him...

Posted by Todd In Seattle | December 5, 2007 3:25 PM

I never said that made it OK! My point is exactly that Huckabee's gullibility in the face of this predator's professions of faith shows that his judgment is highly suspect.

The point seems to be that it was backroom lobbying that actually moved Huckabee and not protestations of faith. The docs show that Huckabee wasn't a gullible Norman Mailer faced with a lying Jack Abbot, but a politician appeasing a pressure group.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | December 5, 2007 4:16 PM

For the past several weeks there has been a discussion on a number of the Atlantic blogs (sparked by the Krugman and Herbert columns in the NYT) as to whether or not the GOP employed racist stereotypes to gain an edge, starting in the late seventies, in various national, state and local elections. One of the more egregious examples of this inflamatory stereotyping was the Willie Horton ad against Dukakis.

No sooner was this mentioned than the wingnuts on the board exploded at the stereotyping charge, claiming that the real issue was the release of a known criminal, etc.

Now we have an even more egregious situation. Horton was only furloughed, Dumond was released. And politics played an ugly partisan role in this release, whereas the Horton furlough was part of a state wide rehabilitation program.

So, of course, the wingnuts are howling "cheap shot", etc., etc. The hypocrisy is deafening.

Posted by pbh | December 5, 2007 5:08 PM

"And speaking of red herrings, the main point here is that Huckabee covered up these records. Or were you too concerned with the red herring red herring?" -Ed

I realize it's tangential, that's why I said 'I just think that whole part of the story is a red herring.'

My point was simply that while there are many reasons to question Huckabee's judgment in this case, I don't agree that ignoring a victim's plea to keep their attacker in jail represents bad judgment, even if that person went out and killed again.

(aside: It seems like broad recidivism statistics for Governors and parole boards would be a better thing to base conclusions about 'good judgment' on)

Posted by ssdag | December 5, 2007 6:04 PM

Todd: "I hope this scumbag Dunleavy is getting what's due to him..."

You mean like remaining a columnist for the NY Post with absolutely no apparent changes? Consequences are only for Democrats...

Posted by Doug | December 5, 2007 7:01 PM

North Korea. Stem cells. Terrorism. Terri Schiavo. Invading Iraq. Failing to secure Iraq. Occupying Iraq. Threatening Iran. Tax cuts. Deregulation. Global Warming.

Huckabee is the Bushiest Republican in the race. He joins a proud wingnut tradition of doing the exact opposite of what the facts dictate, with double bonus wingnut points for spiting the Clintons in some way.

Posted by Jalmari | December 5, 2007 8:12 PM

I hate to get all horserace on this, but if Huckabee gets the nom, he had better pray he doesn't go against Clinton. Think of the ads if they can get Bill's distant relative in them:

"Hello. My name is (whatever). In (whatever year), Wayne Dumond raped me and I was still in high school. After spending two years in jail, former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee freed Dumond. Dumond then went on to murder two women. Their blood is on Huckabee's hands. Why did Mike Huckabee let them go free? Because I'm related to Bill Clinton. That is why I'm voting for Hillary Clinton in 2008."

Right there, you would have just about every non-wingnut woman in the US on Clinton's side. You would have every non-GOP partisan wanting to get some sort of revenge on the guy who coddled a rapist-cum-murderer.

The fact that a rapist like him can even get paroled is just sick.

Posted by Reality Man | December 6, 2007 10:20 AM

I think that ad will work regardless of who the Dem nominee is (except put their name instead of Hillary's). From dreading Huckabee's nomination, I'm starting to hope for it.

Plus, for all his personal likability, he is a bit of a wingnut, what with the young Earth creationism and such.

Posted by Jim W | December 6, 2007 10:27 AM

Posted by CV:
"Marc Ambinder notes that most of the members of the parole board that approved Dumond's release were themselves Clinton appointees, which casts doubt on that explanation.

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/12/wayne_dumond_case_it_huckabee_1.php

I see this as more likely a case of Huckabee's religious zealotry going too far. He probably thought Dumond really had experienced a spiritual rebirth, that God had changed the man, and thus he set free this predator and allowed him to strike again."

I urge people to read the comments there; they rip Marc so many new *ssholes that any responsible, honest person would have an apology on his column.

Posted by Barry | December 6, 2007 10:28 AM

Re: This story is just a tiny link in a chain of a corrupted and broken justice system, and I don't think it makes Huckabee any different from anyone else.

What is different about Huckabee is that, per this 2004 story linked today by Drudge (someone's oppo effort earns a payday), Huckabee granted clemency more often that the total of the 6 states neighboring Arkansas (since Texas is in that mix, that is roughly 20 times the population.)

Posted by Tom Maguire | December 6, 2007 11:01 PM

Jesus, what a story. Anywhere in the civilized world this pardon would be the end of his political career, and the guy is now running for president? This is truly a banana republic.

Posted by abb1 | December 7, 2007 5:40 AM

.. he's a fellow human being who made a horrendous error of judgment which resulted in irrevocable loss of life and shattered two families. Until we know otherwise, that's as far as we should go. Posted by JA

I might buy your argument if he admitted he made a horrendous error in judgment. All he has done thus far is to deny that he had anything to do with the rapist's release, even though he wrote him a letter telling him that it was his intent to get him released.

I agree with a prior poster, all anyone needs to do is to get that three year old girl in front of a camera and Huckabee is toast (as he should be).

Posted by Kate Henry | December 7, 2007 5:31 PM

How the Huckabee administration worked to free rapist Wayne Dumond.

But the Times’ (Arkansas Times) new reporting shows the extent to which Huckabee and a key aide were involved in the process to win Dumond’s release. It was a process marked by deviation from accepted parole practice and direct personal lobbying by the governor, in an apparently illegal and unrecorded closed-door meeting with the parole board (the informal name by which the Post Prison Transfer Board is known).
http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=154e1aad-fd18-4efd-8d80-b5dab8559419

Read the article in the Arkansas Times!
It also tells why the parole board pandered to the governor's request - the chairman of the board wanted to be re-appointed by Huckabee, and he was!

Posted by Peter R | December 9, 2007 10:53 AM