In the midst of his presidential campaign, GOP frontrunner Mike Huckabee has continued to accept tens of thousands of dollars in speaking fees primarily from churches. The arrangement does not violate campaign finance law, as the former Arkansas Governor does not discuss his White House ambitions but rather topics such a religion and health. Nor, for that matter, do political observers see a potential conflict of interest. Huckabee, after all, is already the candidate of the religious right.
But for some, the speeches reinforce the view of Huckabee as someone willing to push the occasional ethics envelope in order to profit on his political fame.
"Clearly there is this pattern throughout [Huckabee's] political life of using his office and campaigns to benefit himself financially," Jay Barth, political scientist at Arkansas' Hendrix College, told the Huffington Post. "Clearly, he has sought out ways to capitalize on his political experiences."
On Wednesday evening, the Politico
and the conservative website Redstate
were provided with emails that showed Huckabee was accepting $25,000 to speak at religious organizations. The revelation raised eyebrows, in part, because Huckabee is the lone candidate in the race believed to still be giving paid-for-speeches; but also, because of Huckabee's explanation for staying on the lecture circuit. The former Baptist minister, who is planning two more speeches in February after two this past November, says that without the speaking fees he could very well go hungry.
"Unlike the members of the Senate or Congress who continue to get their paycheck and get a taxpayer-funded salary, and unlike people who are independently wealthy, if I don't work, I don't eat," Huckabee told Politico on Wednesday.
While Huckabee was one of the most underpaid governors in the nation, and did not enter public office with private wealth, a review of his personal financial disclosure forms suggests that, economically, he is doing quiet well.
According to a document filed on May 13, 2007, which covers events in 2006, Huckabee lists a salary of $74,145 and a $14,101 pension from the State of Arkansas. In addition, the former governor holds several thousand dollars in assets or money with banks and credit unions. He has hundreds of thousands of dollars in stocks with companies like Proctor & Gamble and Flagship Global Health and similar amounts of cash in funds like the Annuity Board Southern Baptist Convention.
Monies provided to Huckabee through book promotion deals (which are organized by the group 12 Stops, Inc.) reached more than $375,000, including more than $148,000 in royalties from the Margaret McBride Literary Agency. In addition, Huckabee received more than $40,000 in consulting fees from The National Association of Music Manufacturers in 2006. The poverty line for a family of four in America in 2005, it should be noted, was $19,350.
Moreover, on the campaign trail, many of Huckabee's expenditures are covered through his political action committee. During the last fundraising quarter, Huckabee used more than $3,000 of his campaign money for personal travel reimbursement. His daughter-in-law Lauren received more than $9,000 in salary during that three-month period. His daughter, Sarah, was paid the same salary and had more than $2,000 in travel expenditures paid for by the campaign.
Huckabee's campaign would not return a request for comment. In his interview with Politico, the former Governor - who does pay a mortgage on his home (pictured here) - said that because of taxes, the money he was already earning was not enough.
"The trouble is, when you're considered self-employed as I am, the taxes eat the first 40 percent of it," he said. "By the time I do that and pay expenses, and then there's about a 25 percent commission that goes to the agency, there's a whole lot less of it that actually gets to me. Still, it's good. I'd like for it to be even more."
Those who have followed Huckabee's tenure in Arkansas were not surprised by the recent revelations.
"I think that is a clear pattern and the history is there," said Barth. "The question is, does he get a little bit of a break as someone who did not come into public life with a tremendous amount of assets."
During his political career, Huckabee was hit with 14 ethics complaints, some of which, it should be noted, were fully dismissed. He was fined $1,000 for not reporting the $14,000 he paid himself from his 1992 U.S. Senate campaign and $43,000 he gave himself from his 1994 lieutenant governor's campaign. Huckabee also failed to disclose $23,500 he received from a nonprofit organization set up to handle speaking engagements. While in office, he accepted more than 300 gifts worth at least $130,000, ranging from $3,700 cowboy boots to a $600 chainsaw. And as he prepared to leave the governor's chair, Huckabee and his wife set up wedding registries at two stores for gifts to furnish their new home. He had been married since 1974.
In regards to the current lecture circuit, Huckabee is walking a thin line, critics say. But as long as he is not actively campaigning, or asking for contributions to his campaign, or, for that matter, working in coordination with the church to advance his candidacy, he is not breaking the law.
"You can't solicit contributions or do fundraising. And you can't advocate your own election and you can't talk about your campaign," said Bob Biersack, a spokesperson for the Federal Election Commission. Presidential candidates like Huckabee, he added, can use money they earn during the campaign, for campaign purposes, provided that those who put forward the cash were not previously aware of where it was going. "Candidates can us their own funds, and funds they've earned, and there is no limit on that if they are not accepted pubic funds."