The plaintiffs, though they had every reason to be outraged by his expense-account padding, of course hoped to damage the governor by filing the suit just before the 1998 election. The suit is based on information from a disgruntled former employee, Kamala Williams, who had been Mansion administrator. She was effectively forced out of the governor's office because of difficult relations with several co-workers and the Huckabee administration has blocked her from other state jobs. Huckabee has cleaned up Mansion spending. So much for agreement.
Popular sentiment is equally irrelevant.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Current good behavior doesn't excuse past wrongs. State law seems clear enough on use of the Mansion fund. But Huckabee has devised a variety of ingenious defenses. But no matter how ambiguous the statute might be and how pure the governor's intent, the state Constitution is definitive and controlling.