Sooner Tea Party Members To Seek Financial Accounting

Mike McCarville

A small group of Sooner Tea Party members is preparing a “demand letter” asking its leader, Al Gerhart, to provide a complete accounting for money the group raised in 2011.

The group tells The McCarville Report it is concerned that money donated as a result of Gerhart’s repeated pleas for contributions may not be being used solely to further the Sooner Tea Party’s goals.

Members of the group requested anonymity because they fear retaliation by the volatile Gerhart, who in the past has threatened others. Gerhart has had numerous confrontations with those who disagree with him. At the recent Cleveland County Republican Convention, he was escorted out of the building by sheriff’s deputies after trying to intimidate party officials. Gerhart’s erratic behavior has resulted in some insiders calling him “The Great Offender.”

Gerhart, in addition to leading the Sooner Tea Party, is coordinator of the Ron Paul campaign in Oklahoma.

His “leadership” has been questioned by many Paul supporters, some of whom have called for his removal from the post.

Gerhart issues a weekly Internet newsletter in which he asks for donations: “Money is always needed for printing costs, postage, sign materials, and robo call costs.  We are tightfisted; we will spend your hard earned money wisely and frugally as we do our very best to clean up Oklahoma politicians so we can begin to clean up our country.”