Murray EvansThe Oklahoman
For a second time in six months, leaders in the Oklahoma House of Representatives have issued a legislative subpoena to state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, saying Walters failed to provide information they'd requested numerous times. House Speaker Charles McCall confirmed Thursday afternoon Walters had answered the subpoena.
The subpoena issued May 23 and signed by Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, and McCall, R-Atoka, sought "any contracts relating to Matt Langston's work on behalf of the Oklahoma State Department of Education, the Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, and/or the State of Oklahoma."
The subpoena asked for "offer letters of employment, applications for employment, and job descriptions for employment" for Langston, who lives in Texas while serving as Walters' chief adviser. McCall said Thursday that Walters told him Langston had no employment contract.
The subpoena gave Walters, who's also a Republican, until June 3 at 9 a.m. to produce the information. A legislative subpoena has roughly the same authority as one issued by law enforcement.
“The subpoena is straightforward,” McBride told The Oklahoman, before he learned it had been answered. “I’m seeking information about Matt Langston. I’ve asked multiple times and the speaker was copied in the last email that was sent. He stated before that we should be communicated with, and if you’re not going to communicate, if this is what it takes, then we’re going to do it.”
McCall echoed that sentiment.
"Secretary Walters and I, I thought, had an understanding the last time (this happened)," McCall said. "Listen -- you'll never receive one of these from the House if you just deliver the information. We all have to be transparent. ... When one branch (of government) or one agency within a branch is unwilling to release information, it creates suspicion and speculation that something's not right. The best thing is transparency and communication."
In a May 22 email to Andrea Fielding, a former deputy director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation who’s now the chief of operations for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, McBride said he’d attempted on four previous occasions “requesting a copy of Matt Langston’s employment agreement/contract.” McBride said the email “would serve as my final informal request” and that his “next request will be a very formal request for this document.”
McBride said he asked McCall for the subpoena “and he granted it immediately.”
Langston previously worked for Walters’ campaign and often has a combative messaging style. In an email concerning McBride in December, Langston said, “I’ve never seen a more whiney Democrat in my life. McBride continues to cry for attention while promoting failed policies, backing woke indoctrination, and promoting p*rn in schools while working hand in hand with the Democrats and the liberal media. He’s made every union leader and liberal extremist proud. No Oklahoman can take him seriously.”
Walters' letter to McCall, in response to the subpoena, said it "outlines items that have already been responded to by my office." Walters claimed McCall "has received unprecedented access to my office and my staff" and told the speaker that, "McBride has lied to you and your office."
"He continues to demonstrate hostility and demands that we've not seen from any other elected officeholder other than the democrats," Walters said, using a lowercase 'd.' It should not surprise you that even when we distill the information down to a simplified response, that he has trouble understanding it. As a teacher, I have much experience helping those in the classroom understand complicated issues, so I have not minded spending more time with those that need it."
Fielding, in an email response to McBride on April 3, said Langston served as a “temporary employee” at the agency from Jan. 13, 2023, through June 30, 2023, and that since July 1, 2023, he “has been a part-time employee with benefits. Due to the nature of his employment, his hours fluctuate monthly, leading to variations in his gross pay.”
In his response to McCall, Walters called Langston "a 'direct hire with my agency. As such, he did not complete an application, and he did not sign a contract for employment."
Legislative subpoenas are rare, but are authorized by the state Constitution
Under Article 5, Section 42 of the Oklahoma Constitution, the Legislature has the authority to issue subpoenas, but it’s rarely used. Before December, when McBride, McCall and state Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, issued the first legislative subpoena to Walters, historians contacted by The Oklahoman couldn’t immediately recall any instance of an elected state officer receiving such a subpoena from the House.
McBride is entering his 12th and final year in the House and has frequently clashed with Walters on issues of transparency since Walters took office in January 2023. McBride is the chair of the House’s Appropriation and Budget Education Subcommittee and a member of the House Education Committee, of which Baker is the chair. Baker, a former middle school teacher, has served in the House since 2016.
The December subpoena contained a list of questions to which McBride said Walters had failed to provide answers, despite months of requests for the superintendent to do so. Walters complied with that subpoena and provided the information about a week after it was issued.
