Republican lawmakers demand Attorney General investigate OSDE consultant Langston

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Several Oklahoma Republican lawmakers have called on the Oklahoma Attorney General to investigate State Inspector Ryan Walters’ top aide, Matt Langston.

House Representative Mark McBride (R-Moore) and several other Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Wednesday telling Drummond they would “formally request an investigation into the employment status of Mr. Matt Langston with the state Department of Education. Concerns have been raised as to whether Mr. Langston is, in fact, a ‘ghost employee’ within the department.”

News 4 reported last week that McBride, along with House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka), subpoenaed State Inspector Ryan Walters to produce the working papers of OSDE Chief Policy Advisor Matt Langston.

Langston previously served as campaign manager for Walters.

“I call (Langston) the puppet master,” McBride said. “I believe he is the puppet master who pulls the superintendent’s strings.”

In the subpoena, McBride and McCall requested items such as Langston’s employment contract, job description and offer letter.

Walters responded to McBride and McCall on two points: He claimed that Langston started at OSDE as a temporary worker and was now a part-time employee with benefits.

However, News 4 learned that Langston earns an annual salary of over $100,000 and works full time.

“I really felt like we were being danced around the issues in the classes and the summons,” McBride said. “I wasn’t satisfied that we had an answer. Many people told me over months that they felt like we had a fake employee.”

That’s why, McBride says, he and the other lawmakers sent the letter to Attorney General Drummond asking him to officially investigate Langston’s employment.

“If you don’t want to give it to me, but rather to the Speaker or to Parliament, then let’s just have the Attorney General investigate the matter and settle it once and for all,” McBride said.

In his letter, McBride asked several questions that he wanted Drummond to answer, including:

“1. Whether Mr. Langston is currently employed by the State Department of Education;

2. The specific duties and responsibilities assigned to Mr Langston;

3. Evidence of Mr. Langston’s performance of these duties, including work records, attendance and completed projects;

4. Whether Mr. Langston’s ties to Vaught Strategies and Precision Outreach, LLC constitute a misuse of state taxpayer funds for Mr. Langston’s personal benefit, and

5. Any discrepancies or irregularities in the records relating to Mr Langston’s employment.”

“The attorney general needs to look into this and find out what was there,” McBride said. “Is there something there?”

In response to McBride’s letter on Wednesday, OSDE spokesman Dan Isett sent News 4 the following statement:

“This is just another political attack motivated solely by union money. Mark McBride and his associates have opposed all common sense reforms like educational accountability and banning pornography in schools – all while bowing to union bosses. Mark McBride has proven himself a liar and continues to double down on his quest for attention.”

Dan Isett, OSDE spokesperson

McBride responded to Isett’s statement with his own statement, saying:

“While Ryan Walters continues to make everything about me, I am solely focused on being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. The committee I chair is responsible for more than half of all government spending. When waste and abuse occur in our agencies, it undermines public trust and diminishes this important work our educators and institutions do every day.

Superintendent Walters claims to be committed to transparency and accountability, but of all the agencies under my committee, his is the only one that has consistently blocked requests for information and has already received two subpoenas from the legislature.”

State Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore)

News 4 reached out to Attorney General Drummond’s office. They had no comment.