Attorney General Rejects Governor’s Class Wallet Lawsuit. Again.
The state’s attorney general on Monday assumed control of, then immediately dismissed, a lawsuit against Florida-based vendor ClassWallet for its role in two pandemic relief programs for students, Jennifer Palmer reported.
ClassWallet was paid to manage the distribution of $18 million in federal money that was supposed to go toward private school tuition and education supplies.
A 2022 joint investigation by Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier revealed that money meant for educational supplies was misspent on items such as televisions, Christmas trees, barbecue grills and video game consoles. The state auditor then identified more misspending in the program, citing $1.8 million that went astray in that program and $6.5 million misspent in the tuition program.
Gov. Kevin Stitt blamed Class Wallet for failing to adequately oversee the programs, and the state sued the vendor. Attorney General Gentner Drummond took over, then dismissed the lawsuit shortly after taking office. Drummond called the lawsuit baseless because the state had given the company blanket approval to disburse the money through Ryan Walters, who was executive director of a nonprofit managing Digital Wallet.
In January, Stitt wrote Drummond and asked him to refile it.
Drummond refused in a Jan. 23 letter to Stitt in which he wrote, in part:
“I will not pursue such a futile exercise in poor judgement. As you are aware, I thoroughly reviewed this matter before dismissing the August 5, 2022, lawsuit filed by my predecessor. It was clear to me then and remains clear now that the lawsuit was filed only in response to pressure applied by your office. Email records indicate your staff began seeking involvement from this office shortly after becoming aware that public disclosure of misspent funds was imminent. Other records suggest questionable motivations for filing the suit.”
The Office of Management and Enterprise Services instead had private attorneys Cheryl Plaxico and Austin Mosely file the lawsuit on Jan. 30. The state’s attorney general on Monday assumed control of, then immediately dismissed that lawsuit.
More worth reading:
Cherokee Nation Building Rural Broadband
The Cherokee Nation will build 15 new cell towers and create a broadband internet network over the next three years at a cost of $80 million. [Anadisgoi]
Air Traffic Controller Instructor Bill Advanced
An Oklahoma Senate committee on Tuesday passed a bill that supporters say would allow Oklahoma City’s Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center to increase its capacity for training air traffic controllers and help safeguard its place as home of the Federal Aviation Administration Academy. [Tulsa World]
Greer Center Oversight Reconsidered
The Department of Human Services’ Office of Client Advocacy did not “do very well” watching over vulnerable adults at a facility in Enid, the chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee told fellow lawmakers. [The Frontier]
Kissing increases most people’s heart rate to at least 110 beats per minute.
Happy Valentine’s Day,
Ted Streuli
Executive Director, Oklahoma Watch
tstreuli@oklahomawatch.org
