Subpoena is just the latest in tensions between Ryan Walters, Oklahoma lawmakers

The subpoena issued by the Oklahoma House of Representatives this week could dramatically alter the upcoming 2024 legislative session and the political life of state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, moving the on-going feud between Walters and lawmakers much closer to a full-on investigation.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Charles McCall, and Reps. Mark McBride, R-Moore, and Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, took advantage of a little-used provision of the Oklahoma Constitution to force documents and information from Walters. Walters has until 3 p.m. Jan. 5 to comply.

Legal experts say the House has both the authority and the tools to compel Walters to provide information.

"Both the state Constitution and legislative enactments give the Legislature the authority to hold Mr. Walters in contempt if he does not have an "adequate excuse" from obeying the subpoena," said Bob Burke, an expert on the Oklahoma Constitution. "If Mr. Walters does not obey the subpoena, and the Legislature holds him in contempt, some believe that such disobedience could constitute an impeachable offense and removal from office."

The Legislature, not the courts, Burke said, has absolute authority over the impeachment process.

Langston responds by saying McBride is lying

Late Tuesday, Walters' senior adviser, Matt Langston, responded to the subpoena by accusing McBride of lying repeatedly about Walters and the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Langston's statement, however, never addressed the subpoena or the information it demanded.

"He has made up false narratives and has yet to show a serious effort to improve education in Oklahoma. All Oklahomans should question his political and ideological stances. Representative McBride actively works with Democrats and teachers unions to undermine Superintendent Walters' and Oklahomans' conservative policies," Langston said.

The subpoena comes at the same time the House Democratic Caucus made a second call on McCall to create a special bipartisan committee to investigate the possible impeachment of Walters. The caucus made a similar request in late August.

"The situation has worsened,” Minority Leader Rep. Cyndi Munson, of Oklahoma City, said in a media statement about the request. “Financial mismanagement and the inability to access information to do their jobs has caused essential employees and cabinet-level officials to resign, taxpayer dollars may have been used for campaigning and Superintendent Walters has vowed to dismantle the very agencies that help fund our public schools."

House Democrats say they want more information

Wednesday, Munson said House Democrats were pleased that Walters had been subpoenaed, but added lawmakers needed more information. "The whole issue of his (Walters) handling of federal money and his incendiary rhetoric need to be examined," she said.

Munson said Democrats also had questions about how information gathered by the subpoena would be shared and what would happen if Walters didn't comply with the House demand for information.

"There are still questions about how, when, and to which members the information will be distributed and what action will be taken once information has been received. For true transparency and accountability, members of both parties should have access to the information submitted by the state superintendent," she said.

She said Democrats continue to have questions about the 100 school districts that have not received federal funding approval from the state Education Department.

"We remain committed to protecting our public schools and our public tax dollars and will use the legislative process to do just that," she said.

If lawmakers form an investigative committee, that group's work — which would take place during an election year — would overshadow most of the major issues facing the Oklahoma Legislature, and should Walters refuse the Legislature's demands, it's possible, Burke said, "that disobedience of a subpoena to report to the Legislature on the status of public education in the state is a willful neglect of duty."

What information does the Oklahoma House want from Ryan Walters in its subpoena?

So what information is the House looking for? The subpoena makes several demands of Walters, seeking information requested by McBride and Baker in November.

Headlining the subpoena is a demand additional information from Walters about an interview he did with an Oklahoma City television station. The House wants details about Walters' statement that 950 out-of-state teachers applied for Oklahoma teaching jobs, what the Education Department's teacher recruitment process was and how many of the teachers referenced by Walters have applied for Oklahoma jobs since his television interview.

More: Ryan Walters says delays in federal reimbursements for schools were predecessor's fault

The subpoena also demands copies of the applications from the 950 teachers Walters spoke about, directs Walters to identify which states the teachers were coming from, how many of the teachers were certified or not certified in their original state, the average number of years those teachers have taught, what subjects the teachers taught and what Oklahoma school districts hired the teachers.

The subpoena also seeks "details of the school districts that fall into the 95% not performing at grade level" and what, specifically, Walters and the Education Department was doing to bring the low-performing school district into a "performing at grade level" status.

In addition, Walters is to provide an update on the $2 million purchase of Metrics Software and how "it is or is not being utilized by SDE and/or schools." The subpoena provided no details about the software package, and inquiries to McBride's, Baker's and McCall's offices did not receive an immediate response.

Can Ryan Walters explain how he communicates with state lawmakers?

The House also wants Walters to explain how he and his senior adviser Langston communicate with Rep. McBride, asking "did you directly or indirectly authorize Mr. Langston to use the letterhead of your office and and state resources for those responses" and whether or not Walters "has any sort of policy in place to either allow or prohibit this type of communication between your employees and elected officials."

Lawmakers want Walters to produce copies of all correspondence between his office and those of McBride and Baker and demanded "any and all emails, texts or other communications" between Walters and Langston "regarding the responses to document request from Chairs McBride and Baker."

In their subpoena, McBride and Baker also doubled down on previous information requests sent to Walters, including copies of all emails from Walters' Every Kids Count email address, beginning Sept. 10, 2020, to the present day "which discuss, compliment, condone or relation in any way to the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability."

That request is an apparent reference to a request made by McBride in early December.

McBride said he and state Rep. Baker received a note from Walters’ top adviser, Langston, that read, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

Langston's statement angered House leaders. On Sunday, House Majority Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, told an Oklahoma City television station that Langston's move was the worst action he'd ever seen from someone who works for an elected official.

"Policy differences are fine, but what you saw was is Chairman McBride, who is Chairman of the Education committee asking for information from the state Department of Education," Echols said. "And while it's well known that Chairman McBride and Ryan Walters don't get along, what's not well known, and what is not well taken, is the childish antics of a Texan, by the way who is the chief of state of the state superintendent, flaunting the Open Records Act and speaking nonsense to an elected official."

Langston's statement, Echols said, was beneath the dignity of the state Education Department. "I was disgusted, never seen anything like it. It was embarrassing," Echols said.

In a statement released about the subpoena, McBride said he was constitutionally bound to ask questions and statutorily entitled to have them answered.

"As those questions have not been answered, and no voluntary answer is forthcoming, I have exercised my power as chairman to subpoena the superintendent to produce the records and communications requested by the committee. Where taxpayer money is concerned we must be diligent. The time for playing political games is over, and the time for answers is at hand," he said. "Myself and many of my legislative colleagues have repeatedly tried to communicate with the superintendent and his staff about these important issues. With the amount of tax dollars being spent by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, legislative oversight of this spending is critical."

Still, while Walters and his staff have an opportunity to provide lawmakers with the information they are seeking, McBride and others were hesitant to say what would happen if Walters refused to comply with the subpoena.

"That will be a story for another day," he said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ryan Walters subpoena comes amid tensions, impeachment talks