Mother Jones, the politically leaning magazine dedicated to social causes, recently tried to request public records related to Mike Huckabee’s term as Arkansas governor in the earlier part of last decade. Turns out, there were no records. Why? Huckabee destroyed his hard drives.
According to MoJo, the story first surfaced during his failed bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, but quickly fizzled out for whatever reason. In any case, when Huckabee wrapped up his 12-year-govenorship in 2005, any computer used by him or his staff had the drives erased and physically crushed. And of course, no hard copies of any documents exist anymore.
“….What do the Huckabee files hold? The records could provide details on any number of unsettled controversies involving a governor that faced at least 15 ethics complaints concerning, among other things: his failure to report gifts and outside income, his alleged use of state funds and resources for political and personal purposes, and the pardon of a convicted murderer and rapist who went on to kill again once released.”
Even if Huckabee did nothing wrong, it’s sketchy (but not particularly surprising) that someone who runs on a platform of ethics, morals and government transparency would go to such great lengths to hide his doings (especially after those various complaints and a potential 2012 presidential bid in line). But hey, politics! Right? [Mother Jones]
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