By: Chris Stafford, Reopen Arkansas
The State lost a good Senator today, not to an election loss, not to Covid, but to a Kangaroo Court “hearing” on Tuesday, 9/27/2022 lead by the Senator’s own party and more closely resembling something one would expect in Cuba or China – not the Arkansas Senate. “Kangaroo Court” is aptly termed because the outcome resulting in Senator Alan Clark’s ouster from the State Senate was predetermined at least a week prior to the hearing. Moreover, it was scheduled intentionally so as to prevent the attendance of Senator Clark or his legal counsel and deprived Senator Clark of the ability to answer the (frivolous/pithy) allegations or present any defense. “Kangaroo Court” indeed – devoid of the most basic due process.
The hearing can be seen here, but for those of you looking for the cliff-notes version of the ousting Senator Alan Clark from the Arkansas State Senate, it can be succinctly summarized and described as follows:
ESTABLISHMENT SENATE LEADERSHIP: We think you (Clark) should have somehow divined the that good Senator Flowers had no ill intent (in collecting thousands in unauthorized per-diem travel payments), and if you didn’t divine it, we told you so. After we told you so, we also told you to drop the ethics complaint you filed regarding those travel payments. You didn’t listen to us and do what we told you, so under the guise that we’re a body concerned about ethics, we’re going to attack you, the whistleblower who brought forth the travel payment issue, and effectively toss you from the Senate, disenfranchising voters state-wide and leaving your district constituents without representation.
To add insult to injury in Tuesday’s proceedings, while the Senate went about the formality of the dog-pony show trial, a few made it a point to call Senator Clark their “friend” and mumble how much they cared and how difficult this was (yes stabbing a friend in the back over no legal violations probably is “difficult”, unless one is a psychopath). Alas, the majority openly bemoaned how much time the kangaroo court was taking and urged haste and speed so they could get back to their tractors and other important things – apparently during fall harvest time in Arkansas, due-process is suspended. My favorite quote of the day goes to Senator Blake Johnson: “I don’t want to hear anything about due process” (isn’t that a great quote from a lawmaker – arguing Senator Clark had no “right” to due process).
Let’s get to the final outcome. Normally in these things, a censure or fine is levied and everyone moves on. In this case, Senator Clark was stripped of all senate duties, responsibilities, and seniority; banned from the legislator building facilities; stripped of all equipment (senate phone, computer and even license plate and parking), for the remainder of the legislative session, and WITH A RECOMMENDATION that the next 2023 Senate carry that over for another 2 YEARS. Such is unprecedented in State history for the degree of “offense” allegedly committed. So, what did he do to deserve this? He filed a whistleblower ethics complaint. No crimes, no theft, no immoral actions, no stepping on puppies or running over small children in crosswalks – he filed an ethics report under the Senate’s own rules and provisions to do so. Let that sink in – he filed a whistleblower ethics report over another Senator’s suspected and apparent fraudulent receipt of State travel funds. A complaint that the establishment Senate Ethics Committee (in secret meeting) later divines that Senator Clark somehow had retaliatory “intent” in filing. We should all be comforted that the capable State Senate have the infallible ability to divine the INTENT of others, and are so certain of it that they were by a 90+ percent majority happy to toss a sitting senior Senator (a Republican not favored by the liberal press) out of the State legislature, while having the clarity to clear another senior Senator (a Democrat with the liberal press on speed dial) after practicing this nifty “intent divining” ability and determining her (innocent) intent (never mind it had all the optics of misappropriation of several thousand in travel dollars.)
So, WHY did they do this? Rumor and speculation has it that in the fiscal research/investigation for Senator Clark’s whistleblower ethics complaint, it was also uncovered that many, if not all, the Senate members had been receiving unauthorized week-end travel per-diem payments (In fairness, the rules on this are vague and likely weren’t known by the members). During the hearing, there was reference to Senator Clark making “threats” of further reporting. Was this a case of self-preservation by the Senate to cover more significant fiscal irresponsibility and misuse of State funds, and sending a strong message to others to shut up or else? You be the judge.
“Travesty of justice” doesn’t begin to touch on what was done to Senator Clark by the State Senate, just as “childish” and “retributional” barely begin to describe the motivational intent that was present for all but the blind to see. The State Senate tossed a senior duly-elected Senator who was dedicated and bulldoggish in fighting for the people of Arkansas, more consistently than just about any other legislator in the State, over “retaliatory intent” – not a crime or “offense” even described in the Senate’s own ethics rules. Ironic, given that the State Legislature’s own actions in the matter seem to exemplify 10-fold that “retaliatory intent” which they profess to be so concerned about. If there is to be “ethics” and enforcement of ethics in the legislature, the process must be open, public, deliberate, beyond reproach, and evidence-based with due process, and not based on “feeling” or “intent”, with an appearance of back-room coverup; and, must be lead or overseen by an outside independent entity – a government agency can not police itself.