TULSA, Okla. — One day after State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced his resignation, a state lawmaker is calling on the Oklahoma Ethics Commission to investigate him.
It’s not the first time Representative Ellen Pogemiller has requested an ethics investigation, and both times were directly tied to the place where he has accepted a job as Chief Executive Officer.
In March, on official letterhead, Walters’ office issued three press releases within a week touting The Freedom Foundation’s new initiative called the “Teacher Freedom Alliance.”
- “We’re going to make education great again with the help of The Freedom Foundation,” he wrote on March 10.
- “TFA marks a new ‘Golden Age’” he wrote on March 11.
- “Walters encouraged by new teacher support group” the headline read on March 13.
The blatant preference prompted Rep. Pogemiller to file the first ethics complaint.
“I had never seen, in all my years, a state official promote one association over the other, so I immediately drew an eye to it,” Pogemiller said. “I thought, that’s not within his scope to be able to do that.”
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Pogemiller also requested the opinion of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office, but it responded, in a letter, that Walters’ actions did not violate the Oklahoma constitution.
The ethics commission did not find a violation, either.
Because The Freedom Foundation is a non-profit organization, it cited that “a state officer… may promote… charitable organizations… provided the state officer… receives nothing for doing so.”
Pogemiller wants a new investigation to ensure he did not receive anything in exchange.
“A move to lead their association less than six months later [from press releases] in the middle of his term, really draws attention to what has been happening since then,” she said. “We, as taxpayers, deserve to know whether we have been footing the bill for him to promote himself.”
Walters’ office did not return our requests for comment.
The ethics commission told 2 News they are not allowed to comment, citing confidentiality laws.
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