OKLAHOMA CITY – State Superintendent Ryan Walters on Tuesday suggested Oklahoma’s governor was behind allegations that pictures of nude women were seen on his office television.
He insisted that an investigation had cleared him of wrongdoing.
Without citing any evidence, Walters implied that fellow Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt had encouraged state Board of Education members to fabricate claims that they saw nude women on his television during the closed door meeting last week.
“The governor needs to answer the questions,” Walters said during a brief, hastily called press conference at the Capitol in which he only took a few questions. “Did he tell these board members to come in here and do this? Did you coordinate with them afterwards to set all this up after the fact when you couldn’t disrupt the meeting?”
He said he met Monday with the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office, and that they concluded none of his devices were connected to the television.
The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office said that the probe into what happened during an State Department of Education executive session was in its early stages.
“No, we have not cleared him,” said Aaron Brilbeck, a spokesman for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office. “Yes, our investigation is ongoing. This is in its infancy. We don’t just do an investigation in an hour and a half.”
Stitt’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stitt appointed board members Becky Carson and Ryan Deatherage, who last week told The Oklahoman and NonDoc that they had seen the women on the television screen, which was behind Walters’ back. Carson told the media outlets that she asked Walters to turn it off, which he did.
Stitt recently shook up the board, replacing three members after he said there was too much political drama. Some of the new board members have openly questioned Walters’ policy ideas.
Deatherage, when contacted Tuesday, declined to answer questions but said a statement would be put out soon. Carson could not be reached for comment.
The Office of Management and Enterprise Services asked Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson to investigate after Carson filed a complaint, records show.
The Office of Management and Enterprise Services did not return a phone call seeking comment or respond to a request for a copy of Carson’s complaint.
Walters said his office television is hooked up to cable, not any of his electronic devices.
“These board members decided to construct a lie to destroy my character again,” Walters said.
He said the board members are attempting to stop education reform.
Walters also lashed out at the teacher’s union and the news media.
“Those individuals that tried to assassinate my character and print and publish things that are demonstrably false and provably false will be hearing from us and all of Oklahomans very, very soon,” Walters said.
Janelle Stecklein contributed to this report.
Oklahoma Voice is an affiliate of States Newsroom, a nation 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and donations focused on delivering state government news. The Voice maintains full editorial independence. For more stories by Oklahoma Voice go to oklahomavoice.com.
