‘It's obvious nobody's watching': Former GOP lawmaker says Republicans failing to hold Walters accountable amid massive staff payments

Yahoo

25-04-2025

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A former Republican lawmaker says members of his own party are failing to hold State Superintendent Ryan Walters accountable after News 4 and Oklahoma Watch uncovered a string of unexplained, five-figure payments the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) made to out-of-state political operatives Walters hired to work for the department.
Last Wednesday, News 4 revealed OSDE paid its former spokesperson a final paycheck totaling more than $76,000.Then, on Monday, News 4 reported Walters' new chief of staff, Matt Mohler, a Florida political strategist who once worked for the same political consulting firm as Walters' highly paid advisor Matt Langston, received a $32,000 bonus in February.
New records reveal even more unexplained five-figure payouts to Ryan Walters' chief of staff
As News 4 reported, that was on top of Mohler's six-figure base salary at OSDE — and despite him still appearing to work full-time for a company in Florida, according to the company's website.On Tuesday, News 4 uncovered additional records revealing Mohler received another unexplained bonus payment in March for $12,500.On Wednesday, Oklahoma Watch reported OSDE hired another out-of-state political consultant, a man named Chad Gallagher, from Arkansas.
Oklahoma Watch reported OSDE hired Gallagher for a 'temporary' role, with a nearly $100,000 yearly salary.
'His background is pretty interesting,' Oklahoma Watch reporter Jennifer Palmer told News 4. 'He lobbied for ClassWallet, which, of course, you know, we've written about quite a bit here in Oklahoma,' Palmer said.As News 4 reported, ClassWallet was a vendor Walters, prior to becoming State Superintendent, hired to distribute federal COVID-relief funds to help families buy school supplies.
A state audit revealed that almost 20% of the total purchases families made through ClassWallet were on items not related to educational learning per the grant guidelines, including couches, Xbox consoles, and Christmas trees.
Further investigations revealed Walters gave ClassWallet his 'blanket approval' for all the purchases.
Despite that, the state later sued ClassWallet.When Oklahoma Watch reached out to OSDE spokesperson Grace Kim to explain Gallagher's hiring, she declined to comment.
New OSDE chief of staff paid nearly $50K in first month, still listed as active employee for Florida company
Kim also declined to comment to News 4 each time we reached out seeking explanations for the tens of thousands of dollars in payments OSDE made to Isett and Mohler.After News 4's reporting, Senate Democratic Leader Julia Kirt called on state lawmakers to take action.
'The superintendent has way too much latitude,' Kirt said in a TikTok post Tuesday. 'I keep asking my Republican colleagues to stand up to him and hold him accountable. They won't do it.'
Her comments caught the attention of former Republican State Representative Mark McBride.'There's so many things we should be pushing back as Republicans,' said McBride, who served as the chair of the Oklahoma House Education Committee until he termed out of office in November. 'But no. We've got Democrats you can interview, but the Republicans won't step up to the plate and say, hey, this is wrong. Stop it.'While in office, McBride repeatedly criticized Matt Langston's role at OSDE, as Walters' Chief Policy Advisor.
Langston runs a political consulting firm, 'Engage Right,' and worked as a strategist for Walters' campaign prior to being hired at OSDE.
Despite making a six-figure salary with OSDE, Langston lives and works out of Austin, Texas.
OSDE claims Langston is a 'part-timer' employee.
In February, Oklahoma Watch reported OSDE paid Langston a nearly $ 45,000 bonus, without explanation.
Records: State paid former OSDE spokesperson more than $75k in final paycheck
'He's a ghost employee pretty much, I've said that time and time again,' McBride said. 'At least when I was in office, we filed two subpoenas, multiple requests, had him come before us and talk to us.'But now—
'It's obvious nobody's watching,' McBride said. 'I don't know what they're trying to do.'This week, Governor Kevin Stitt also expressed concern about the reports.'Unfortunately, you know me, the Governor doesn't get to hire and fire the different state agency heads,' Stitt said at his weekly press availability Wednesday. 'We're not dumb. Oklahomans are not dumb. Oklahomans see these people in these different political positions, running for their next office.''The only people who push back against him are the governor and the attorney general,' McBride said. 'And there's not a comment—not one comment—from a Republican legislator pushing back on this misuse of state tax dollars. It's sad.'News 4 only heard from one currently-serving Republican lawmaker willing to speak on this issue: State Rep. Daniel Pae (R-Lawton).'It seems like there's always new developments happening at SDE,' Pae said. 'The more and more we have these issues arise, we have to follow the money.'Pae said he would like to see House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) open a special investigation to look into the mysterious payments at OSDE.
'I know the Department of Mental Health has been the primary focus and there has been a select committee established by Speaker Hilbert,' Pae said. 'We could have a similar committee look into all these discrepancies at SDE. That would be my personal recommendation to have a formal process like that and have public hearings.'News 4 reached out to Speaker Hilbert's office to ask if he would support launching an investigation.His office said he has no comment.
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