Swadley's claims to be state's 'political scapegoat' in Facebook post
Swadley's Bar-B-Q has come out swinging on Facebook, posting a list of questions for state officials who are suing the company for breach of contract after the state hired the restaurateur to renovate and operate six dining areas at state parks.
The list was posted on the social media site on the same day that Swadley's argued in a lawsuit that the Oklahoma Department of Tourism owes the company $2.6 million. A few days later, the state unsealed grand jury indictments against owner Brent Swadley and two others alleging conspiracy and fraud.
Many of the questions in the Facebook post are related to points that Swadley's made in its Feb. 5 motion.
In the Facebook post, Swadley's describes itself as a political scapegoat and included an image of the biblical David slaying Goliath. It echoes the court filing by blaming state Tourism Department officials for misspent funds and using Swadley's to divert attention away from the agency's mismanagement.
A spokesman for the state attorney general's office, which is representing the Tourism Department, declined to comment and said the state will respond to Swadley's court motion at the appropriate time.
Swadley's, referred to in court documents as Swadley's Foggy Bottom Kitchen, questioned why the state stopped paying the company months before terminating the contract in April 2022, and why the restaurants were allowed to keep operating after state officials began investigating the company's invoices.
The post criticizes the state for not appraising the work done by Swadley's to renovate the restaurants. The state "instead chose to file an accounting lawsuit against Swadley’s FBK in a political election year," it says.
Swadley's also asked whether the state had unrealistic expectations for the project, and noted that the Tourism Department insisted that the company do work that included dredging lakes, building boat docks and conducting renovations at non-restaurant premises.
More: Swadley's Bar-B-Q owner Brent Swadley, two others indicted, charged with conspiracy, fraud
In March of 2022, the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT) claimed the state lost $12.4 million in taxpayer funds because there was insufficient oversight of the deal.
When asked by reporters on Friday to discuss the ongoing lawsuit, Gov. Kevin Stitt said the government will hold all state vendors accountable.
"You're going to have disputes sometimes with vendors, and we want to hold everybody accountable. And in auditing, what I learned in school, is that you follow the money. Let's see if there's bad actors that may be prosecuted. If there's bad state employees, they need to be prosecuted," Stitt said.
What led to the lawsuit between Swadley's and the state's Tourism Department?
Following the release of the LOFT report and in the midst of ongoing investigations by both the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and an Oklahoma House special committee, the state terminated its contract with Swadley's on April 25, 2022.
The termination of the contract was due to "suspected fraudulent activity found through highly questionable billing, invoicing and record keeping practices."
Four days later, the state filed a civil lawsuit against Swadley's in Oklahoma County District Court alleging breach of contract. Swadley's filed an initial countersuit on June 21, 2022.
Since the filing of its initial countersuit, Swadley's has filed an amended counterclaim in September of 2022 and two subsequent motions alleging that the company is still owed money by the state.
The first motion, which included a report from an "independent audit," came in November 2022 alleging the state owed Swadley's nearly $6 million, while a more recent motion for partial summary judgment filed Feb. 5 amends that amount to approximately $2.6 million.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Swadley's Facebook post criticizes Oklahoma tourism over lawsuit
