Oklahoma's Land Office, which manages $2.7B in leases of state property CONSTITUTIONALLY REQUIRED to fund schools, has spent nearly a half-million dollars (and counting) defending its ex-secretary's sketchy deals.
[Note: This article version has been updated to reflect that funds were not taken from the education trust, but from other taxpayer-funded sources.]
Leases of state land are supposed to generate money into a trust for OK schools, but former land office commission secretary Elliot Chambers (a Stitt appointee) was part of efforts to invest in risky "rent-to-own" property he had personal ties to.
Chambers, who resigned in 2022, has pleaded his Fifth Amendment right 180 TIMES in depositions about his dealings. Meanwhile, while a related personnel lawsuit is still pending, many Oklahoma teachers are left to buy their own supplies and lead classes in crumbling buildings.
In October, Land office commission members Gov. Stitt, Lt. Gov. Pinnell, Ryan Walters and Blayne Arthur voted to allow the Land Office to pay an outside legal firm to represent Chambers in the pending lawsuit because the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office refused to represent him.
H/T to Paul Monies of Oklahoma Watch for this crucial reporting. This isn't just another Stitt/GOP crony scandal, YOUR kids’ education money continues to be mismanaged. These funds are their constitutional right. Demand accountability. 🔵