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Monday, November 18, 2024

'Basic facts and finances are the focus of the committee's first meeting': Investigative Committee issues first subpoenas into Oklahoma BBQ scandal probe

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Whistleblower reports indicate Swadley's inflated reimbursement requests and renovation quotes. | Facebook/Swadley's Bar-B-Q

Whistleblower reports indicate Swadley's inflated reimbursement requests and renovation quotes. | Facebook/Swadley's Bar-B-Q

The Oklahoma House of Representatives Special Investigative Committee has issued its subpoenas to the director of the Office of Management and Budget and the director of the Legislative Office of Financial Transparency as it probes the alleged Swadley's BBQ scandal.

Tulsa World reported that on May 5, Oklahoma House Special Investigative Committee Chairman Rep. Ryan Martinez announced that the committee had issued its first two subpoenas to the director of the Office of Management and Budget and the state’s chief operating officer under Gov. Kevin Stitt, Steven Harpe, and the director Legislative Office of Financial Transparency, Mike Jackson.

"Basic facts and finances are the focus of the committee's first meeting," Martinez said, according to a May 5 Twitter post by Reese Gorman, political investigator for The Frontier.

According to KOKH FOX 25, the House Special Investigative Committee was formed on April 28 by order of House Speaker Charles McCall. The purpose of the committee was to look into the alleged misuse of public funds through food service contracts by the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.

“We have zero tolerance for abuse of tax dollars,” McCall said, according to FOX 25. “Law enforcement’s job is determining if laws were broken. This committee’s job is determining if laws need to change to protect against future abuses of resources by state agencies. The committee will pursue the truthful answers needed for the Legislature to perform our oversight and policymaking duties in a manner that does not interfere with the active law enforcement investigations.”

The scandal centers on a series of restaurants known as Swadley's BBQ. According to Sooner State News, the Tourism and Recreation Department entered into a contract with Swadley's to open and operate a number of restaurants across several state parks. However, as previously reported by Sooner State News, the Oklahoma State Auditor found that the state paid the company nearly $17 million. Whistleblower reports indicate that the restaurant chain inflated reimbursement requests and renovation quotes.

A whistleblower alleged that the owner of Swadley's BBQ, Brent Swadley, once bragged about his relationship with Stitt, saying not to worry about the restaurant's expenses because he had "a direct line to the governor."

KFOR reported that Stitt later denied knowing Swadley, canceled the state's contract with the barbecue chain and filed a lawsuit against the restaurant.

Swadley refutes Stitt’s denial that he knows him and has told the media that he is "in tears" that Stitt refused to acknowledge him, according to FOX 25.

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