# Bill Huffman Chief Deputy Treasurer in the office of Arkansas Treasurer of State John Thurston. Listed on the May 16, 2025 follow-up contact list xlsx Wendy Spadoni provided to Brad Young after the April 2025 Capitol tour ([[auditor-foia-r1-spadoni]]). Huffman is referred to in shorthand as "Bill" in Brady's 10/28/2024 iMessage to Kenneth Burleson. The Brady-Burleson text captured in [[auditor-foia-r2-residual]] names Huffman as the second Treasury deputy Brady asked to give Lawrence Berman a 30-minute substantive meeting on Tuesday November 5, 2024 (Election Day). The full request: "and then if you and Bill could give him 30 minutes. More of a get to know than anything." Huffman is therefore documented as designated to participate in the Election Day Berman meeting alongside Burleson; whether the meeting occurred is not knowable from this text. Huffman's documentary footprint in the wiki is limited to this iMessage reference and the contact list xlsx. The wiki does not document Huffman on any documented Israel Bonds correspondence beyond the Brady text and the post-tour contact list. The Treasury-side participation in the November 5 trip outcome would be a follow-up FOIA target. ## Evidence > "and then if you and Bill could give him 30 minutes. More of a get to know than anything." > Jason Brady iMessage to Kenneth Burleson naming Huffman as the second Treasury deputy, JB to KB 2025-06-24.pdf p.1, Mon, Oct 28, 2024 at 11:29 AM ## Cross-References [[john-thurston]] Huffman's principal; the Treasurer [[kenneth-burleson]] Treasury Deputy Brady texted directly; Huffman was named in that text as Burleson's counterpart [[jason-brady]] Auditor's Chief Deputy who initiated the 10/28/2024 Treasury coordination text [[lawrence-berman]] DCI National Managing Director who was the subject of the Treasury-meeting request [[auditor-multi-official-capitol-tour]] concept page [[auditor-foia-r2-residual]] source page ## Treasury R1 7-7-25 production: Huffman as $55M target-setter and Accredited Investor letter signer The Treasury R1 batch reframes Huffman from a passively-designated Election Day attendee to an active Treasurer's-office Israel Bonds principal in April 2025. **Huffman set the $55M target with Berman before Pulley placed the order.** Berman's 4/16/2025 12:06 PM email to Pulley: > I just talked to Bill Huffman, and he told me you were planning to bring the portfolio up to $55M, with the purchase of 3 and 5 year paper. That would be a total purchase of $20M. The $55M target and the 3+5 year structure originated with Huffman, conveyed verbally to Berman in advance of Berman's 4/16/2025 rate-sheet email to Pulley. Pulley's 2:20 PM order matches Huffman's specification exactly: "Pencil us in for $10MM of the 3yr 4.66% along with $10MM of the 5yr 5.17%." Huffman's role is therefore documented as the source of the target rather than as a procedural reviewer. Whether Huffman discussed the target with Thurston before conveying it to Berman is not documented in this batch. **Huffman signed the QIB Accredited Investor Letter.** Pulley emailed Huffman 4/21/2025 9:04 AM (cc Michael Harry, Celeste Gladden): > Bill attached you will find the Accredited Investor Letter that'll need to be signed in order for State of Israel to update their internal files attesting that we are an accredited investor. I'll bring a hard copy to our meeting tomorrow morning for your signature. Huffman's 4/21/2025 9:14 AM Outlook-for-iOS reply acknowledged receipt. The signed letter was transmitted to Berman by Gladden on 4/22/2025 (Accredited Investor Arkansas.pdf). Huffman is therefore documented as the Treasurer's-office signatory for the QIB Rule 506 compliance documentation for the Thurston $20M purchase. The signing role positions Huffman as the senior Treasurer's-office decision-confirmer in the operational chain Berman → Huffman target → Pulley order → Gladden wire → Huffman QIB signature → Computershare reconciliation. **Huffman's direct line to Berman.** The Berman-Huffman pre-rate-sheet conversation ("I just talked to Bill Huffman") indicates Huffman has a direct telephonic relationship with Berman, established sufficiently for substantive portfolio-target discussion. The 10/28/2024 Brady-Burleson text contemplated Huffman participating in the Election Day Berman meeting; the Berman-Huffman April 2025 relationship is plausibly continuous with that meeting or with the 4/15/2025 Capitol meeting (Huffman is on the May 16 follow-up contact list per the Spadoni xlsx). [[treasury-foia-r1-7-7-25]] source page [[steve-pulley]] Senior Investment Officer to whom Huffman conveyed the $55M target through Berman [[lawrence-berman]] DCI sales lead with whom Huffman had the pre-order target-setting conversation [[celeste-gladden]] [[michael-harry]] Treasury staff cc'd on the Accredited Investor letter signing thread [[state-treasurer-israel-bonds-operations]] concept page on Treasury operational pathway ## Treasury R2 Sub-batch 3 (Communications binders): the documented standing supportive position The Sub-batch 3 alphabetized Communications binders document Huffman's role pre-dating the 4/15/2025 Capitol meeting. Full Sub-batch 3 documentation is at [[treasury-foia-r2-9-23-25]]. Huffman-specific findings: (1) **Huffman's 2/4/2025 11:12 AM email to Berman** (responding to Berman's 2/3/2025 escalation after Pulley's non-committal response) is the documented pre-conversation that established Treasury's standing supportive position on the Israel Bonds program ten weeks before the 4/16/2025 $20M order: > I hope all is well. Thank you for the update. Our office continues to be supportive of your program. Steve and I have visited regarding buying opportunities. We look forward to continuing our relationship. Thank you. Bill. > Ja-Po binder, Huffman to Berman + Burleson cc, 2/4/2025 11:12 AM The "Our office continues to be supportive of your program" framing is on-behalf-of-Treasury at the Chief Deputy level. Huffman's "Steve and I have visited regarding buying opportunities" framing places Pulley's Senior Investment Officer caution in operational subordination to Huffman's relationship-maintenance position. This is the documented mechanic by which DCI's escalation routed around Pulley's 2/3/2025 12:23 PM caution ("we are watching the situation"). (2) **Huffman's 2/18/2025 4:44 PM follow-up to Berman**: "Thank you. I will get with Steve. Bill." — Huffman acted as the Treasury-side decision-driver for engaging Pulley to act on Berman's New Israel Bond Rates pitch. (3) **Huffman met Berman/Bradley Young at the previously-undocumented November 2024 Little Rock visit.** Berman's 4/17/2025 thank-you to Thurston: "After meeting Bill and Ken on our earlier trip to Little Rock, we knew that our partnership with the Arkansas Treasurers office was in capable hands." The November 2024 visit met Huffman ("Bill") and Burleson ("Ken") in Little Rock — Thurston-era Chief Deputy and Deputy. The visit is the in-person predecessor to Huffman's 2/4/2025 supportive framing and the 4/15/2025 Capitol meeting. (4) **Huffman invited to the 1/15/2025 Yali Rothenberg "exclusive briefing"** (Berman 1/7/2025 invitation to Pulley + Burleson + Huffman). The briefing was framed as "The timing is good with your bond up for reinvestment." Documents Huffman as a recipient of direct DCI-Israel-government engagement at decision-relevant timing. (5) **Huffman's role as the substantive Treasury-side point of contact for the $55M target** is now documented across multiple touchpoints: the Berman-Huffman pre-conversation (per Berman's 4/16/2025 12:06 PM "I just talked to Bill Huffman" reference), the November 2024 Little Rock visit, the 2/4/2025 supportive-framing email, the 1/15/2025 exclusive-briefing invitation, the 4/22/2025 QIB Accredited Investor Letter signature. Huffman is the Treasury-side decision-driver across the period leading to the May 2025 $20M Thurston purchase. [[treasury-foia-r2-9-23-25]] source page (Sub-batch 3 section) ## Treasury R3 2-19-26 production: Huffman cc'd but not pre-conversation-target-setter on the Feb 17 2026 Thurston purchase The Treasury R3 (2-19-26) production documents a variant in Huffman's role on the second Thurston-era Israel Bonds purchase compared to his definitive Treasury-side decision-driver role on the May 2025 ladder transaction. ### Huffman is cc'd but not the pre-conversation-target-setter on the Feb 2026 transaction Berman's 1/14/2026 2:31 PM cold solicitation to Pulley was addressed To: Pulley, cc: John Thurston, Kenneth Burleson, Bill Huffman, Bradley Young. Huffman is in the cc chain but is NOT documented as the pre-conversation target-setter for the Feb 2026 transaction (in contrast to the 4/16/2025 12:06 PM Berman pitch that opened "I just talked to Bill Huffman, and he told me you were planning to bring the portfolio up to $55M"). The 1/14/2026 Berman email does not reference any prior Huffman-Berman conversation; the pitch is framed as cold solicitation on the upcoming maturity event. The variant pattern documents that the **Huffman-as-target-setter mechanism documented on the May 2025 ladder is not the only operational pathway for Berman new-purchase pitches to produce Treasury orders.** The Feb 2026 transaction proceeded without documented Huffman pre-conversation, with Pulley accepting Berman's cold solicitation directly. Whether Huffman was substantively consulted between Berman's 2:31 PM pitch and Pulley's ~4:43 PM acceptance is not preserved in the documentary record. ### R3 cross-confirmation: Berman's 4/16/2025 email forwarded in 8/12/2025 portal-access thread The R3 Redacted communications.pdf preserves the Berman 4/16/2025 2:33 PM email as quoted material inside Celeste Gladden's 8/12/2025 portal-access request to Berman + Mulvey. The forwarded text confirms Huffman's role on the May 2025 transaction: > Hi Steve, I've attached our current institutional rates for your review. I just talked to Bill Huffman, and he told me **you were planning to bring the portfolio up to $55M, with the purchase of 3 and 5 year paper. That would be a total purchase of $20M.** > Redacted communications.pdf, Berman 4/16/2025 quoted within Gladden 8/12/2025 thread (emphasis added) The forwarded text definitively cross-confirms the May 2025 Huffman-target-setter finding documented at R1 ([[treasury-foia-r1-7-7-25]]). ### Huffman as Feb 2026 QIB signatory (presumed) The Feb 2026 transaction required a fresh Accredited Investor Letter execution for the August 2025 PPM cycle. The signed PDF is named "State of Arkansas Accredited Investor.pdf" and was returned by Gladden to Jimenez on 2/3/2026 2:30 PM. The signed PDF is NOT separately produced in R3, so the signatory identity is not directly visible. On the May 2025 transaction Huffman signed the QIB letter as Chief Deputy Treasurer; the same Chief Deputy Treasurer role is the most plausible Feb 2026 signatory, but the signed PDF would need to be obtained via FOIA follow-up to confirm. [[treasury-foia-r3-2-19-26]] source page