Gentner Drummond is on the clock
Gentner Drummond is on the clock
Whether he runs for governor or attorney general again, so much justice must be brought in for a landing before it's too late
Where does it end for attorney general Gentner Drummond?
Not for him personally, but for everything he’s set in motion, a long list that’s only been added to this week.
For him personally, presuming he doesn’t take the path Brent Venables took for so long, it’s the governor’s chair.
For years and years and years, Venables ran from head-coaching suitors, enjoying his defensive coordinator’s role, choosing familiarity and comfort zone over ambition until, finally, he couldn’t pass up playing savior in Norman.
But time is not on Drummond’s side the way it was for the Sooner coach.
Drummond turns 60 in October and the way things work in Oklahoma, not running for the big seat in 2026 would almost certainly mean not running for it again until 2034, after another eight-year run by another Republican governor, and that doesn’t make any sense at all for a man born in 1963.
All that and, if you haven’t noticed, he’s kind of been running against Kevin Stitt, our regrettable governor who cannot run again, since taking office in January.
Of course, every time Drummond’s run afoul of Stitt it’s happened to be the right thing to do, too, and that, following this quite long-winded into, is why we’re here today.
Indeed, let us count some of the headline-making causes, or simply things, in which Drummond has placed himself in the middle.
• Soon after taking office, Drummond announced he’d be taking back three different cases from the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office, all of which his attorney general predecessor, John O’Connor, punted, deciding he’d lose too many friends were he to not.
One, the prosecution of Epic Charter Schools founders Ben Harris and David Chaney.
Two, the criminal probe into Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen’s state contract, the one that made no sense on its face, appears to have corruption written all over it that may begin with Stitt his own self and not merely the state tourism department, whose then director Jerry Winchester, an old energy executive because why not, resigned in the wake of it all.
Three, the investigation into the Commissioners of the Land Office, a body you may not have known existed, but whose then secretary, Elliott Chambers, a Stitt appointee, appeared to have fired CLO auditor Erin Morgan because he didn’t appreciate her doing her job, a turn of events that eventually led to Chambers’ resignation, too.
• Drummond has also been fighting the good fight on behalf of Richard Glossip, a death row inmate who’s had his execution stayed multiple times, most recently by the U.S. Supreme Court.
On that one, after first initiating an independent review and concluding Glossip did not receive a fair trial, Drummond moved to vacate the sentence, only to be turned down by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals; appealed for clemency only to not get it from the state pardon and parole board; and, most recently, filed a brief with the Supreme Court in support of Glossip’s petition for a “writ of certiorari,” asking the high court to take up the case itself.
• Three weeks ago, upon lauding state auditor and inspector Cindy Byrd for her 256-page audit of billions in federal dollars, tens of millions of which appeared to be corruptively spent on (or not on) education via programs initiated out of the state’s executive branch, Drummond pushed for a still bigger audit to determine “were there criminal acts or just absolute malfeasance.”
Stitt, as well as state superintendent of public instruction and noted angry and small man Ryan Walters are up to their eyeballs in that one.
About it, speaking to Oklahoma City’s KWTV-9, Drummond was asked directly, “Could the result of this audit be criminal charges?” and replied, “Certainly.”
• Then, on July 7, it became clear Drummond was taking another run at Stitt on another issue, trying to gain authority over the governor and negotiate tribal compacts himself.
NonDoc broke the story, getting hold of a letter Drummond sent to senate president Greg Treat and house speaker Charles McCall, that had the attorney general “seeking formal permission for his office to assume the defense of Oklahoma’s interests in a lawsuit filed against Stitt and the U.S. Department of the Interior by four tribes: the Cherokee, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw and the Citizen Potawatomi nations.”
The details are many but the broad strokes are thus: the governor’s refusing to negotiate with the tribes while driving up the state’s legal fees to outside counsel so give me a shot and we’ll get something done.
A week later, The Oklahoman came up with a story under the headline, “AG Drummond, tribal leaders say they will advance Oklahoma without the governor.”
In it, there was much from Drummond and the tribes’ willingness to work together and compromise — in contrast to Stitt’s non-negotiation approach — but not a heck of a lot about how they plan to do it without a formal directive from the legislature empowering Drummond to take it on; a possibility that would absolutely wind up in court were Drummond to gain it.
• Finally, Tuesday, Drummond dropped another bombshell: following an investigation, he threatened litigation, perhaps criminal, in the wake of market manipulation and the fleecing of ratepayers prompted by the 2021 winter storms that hit the state so hard.
Quoted in his own office’s press release, he said:
“I discovered that several companies reaped billions of dollars at the expense of businesses and individuals who were suffering from the crippling effects of the storm. The magnitude of this scheme is staggering and unconscionable. Oklahomans can rest assured that I will do everything in my power as Attorney General to return what was taken and hold accountable those responsible.”
He also said:
“At the appropriate time, if we determine that litigation is in the best interests of Oklahoma ratepayers, our complaint will detail each company and individual we believe to be responsible. Until then, I want the People of Oklahoma to remain proud of our oil and gas producers, who are vital partners in the prosperity of our State.”
Then, appearing to make clear litigation’s a question of when, not if, he also said:
“I have been strongly critical of past attorneys general engaged in no-bid, no cap contingency fee arrangements. I plan to issue an RFP to seek the most qualified legal counsel that provides the best possible value to my client: the People of Oklahoma.”
So here’s the question:
How does he do it?
How does he do it all?
Can he get to the finish line before it’s time to run for governor?
Even if he doesn’t run for higher office — hard to believe — can he possibly mete out all the justice he’s taken on before his term expires?
Yes, should he not run for governor he’ll almost certainly run for attorney general again, but the momentum could be lost to punish those now out of office or out of government. And given that, his timeline to hold Stitt and Walters accountable should he determine they’re criminals and should Drummond spend the final year of his term on the 77-county chief executive campaign trail, may not be not a whole lot more than two years.
Like parallel parking an 18-wheeler or turning around an aircraft carrier, he wheels of justice inevitably turn slowly.
Not to mention, given the quacks in this state who commit the corruption — overwhelmingly Republicans who don’t belong to the Drummond, Leslie Osborne, Cindy Byrd wing of the party — of whom there are too many to count, his dance card, already full, will only become fuller.
Could Drummond clone himself?
Could he appeal for more funding from the legislature to secure the personnel required to knock out his overfull plate? (A delicious possibility if he tried it, making his own party choose between the quacks and others like him).
The Glossip case is continuous. Each filing, appeal and decision along the way creates its own time stamp, making it not hard to report because each step is conspicuous public record.
But Swadley’s?
The scandal seems so old already and the investigation out-of-sight, out-of-mind.
Will the next big audit take, a year? Longer?
The Commissioners of the Land Office is not sexy, but corruption is corruption and if Chambers broke something as boring as employment law, mustn’t he still be dealt with if only to put a scare into each appointee and bureaucrat who struggles to understand the difference between public and personal interest?
Is there time to bring each one, and still others, in for landings?
Maybe Drummond could convene a weekly Q&A, even serve some lunch, like Venables will begin doing again the end of next month, just to keep us updated on his super full plate.
It’s important and we need to know.
Because it’s all a matter of time.