New Okla AG shifts focus to state officials in pandemic funds fiasco

Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 2:50 AM | Published: January 31, 2023

OKLAHOMA CITY (State Capitol) — Newly-sworn Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has dismissed a lawsuit filed by his predecessor against a vendor in the misspending of millions in federal pandemic relief dollars for students.

Instead, he is shifting his focus and AG’s office energies to investigating the role of state officials in the botched program.

Drummond to focus on ‘state actors’

“After a thorough review of this matter, I have concluded that the lawsuit filed by the previous Attorney General is almost wholly without merit,” Drummond said. “It is clear that a number of state actors and other individuals are ultimately responsible for millions in misspent federal relief dollars.”

Former Attorney General John O’Connor, who Drummond defeated in the Republican primary, filed the suit agains ClassWallet. The Florida company was a vendor that provided an online portal designed to allow parents to choose state-funded goods and supplies for students’ needs while their educations were being disrupted by the pandemic.

But, it didn’t actually work that way under Governor Kevin Stitt’s cabinet Secretary of Education, Ryan Walters.

Federal audit

A scathing federal audit on the state’s handling of millions in taxpayer-funded federal COVID relief dollars revealed that the rules set up by the State of Oklahoma in the program were so extraordinarily loose that they invited misuse.

Auditors found that through the program, parents regularly bought video game consoles, home appliances, and luxury items instead of supplies and services that would have aided in their children’s education.

Feds investigating Stitt, Walters giveaways of millions in relief money

Walters’ program

The state may have to reimburse the federal government for the millions misspent in the program directly administered by Walters.

Walters ran for and won the statewide elected office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in November.

As such, Walters has taken charge of the state Department of Education which, among many other tasks, is responsible for the fully-accountable spending of millions of federal dollars each year.

Now, in the background, Drummond is launching an investigation of state officials and their role in the problematic program set up by Stitt and Walters in an end-run around the State Department of Education.

In a few months, Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector Cyndi Byrd is due to release her own audit of the program. Like the Attorney General, the State Auditor and Inspector is a state-wide, elected office independent of any governor’s administration.

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