Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter released a set of Tar Creek audits Monday which had been held back by his predecessor and the subject of a lawsuit by the Campaign for Accountability. Hunter requested and received approval from Judge Thomas Prince who presides over the state’s Multicounty Grand Jury (MCGJ). Former Attorney General and current EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had refused to release the audits, which State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones performed.
Jones claimed the audits indicated criminal activity was involved in how the Tar Creek clean up contracts were awarded. He called on Pruitt to release the audits to the public.
The Lead Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust (LICRAT) audits were requested by Pruitt in 2011. Once Jones completed the audits, Pruitt did not file charges against anyone involved and kept the audits from being released.
It was November 2017 when the Campaign for Accountability filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma County District Court to compel the state to release the audits. The organization also is suing the EPA for information related to any communications between Pruitt’s EPA office and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office.
Hunter said the release of the audits come at his discretion, as is the case with all investigatory audits presented to the multicounty grand jury unit.
“The politicization of this matter by an out of state special interest group is unnecessary and unwarranted,” Hunter said. “The facts are clear: The investigative audits looked into the bidding process for the removal of chat, not the buyout and relocation of residents by the federal government. The matter which was the subject of the audits was reviewed by prosecutors in the Attorney General’s Office, the EPA under President Barack Obama and reexamined and scrutinized by newly hired, experienced criminal prosecutors in my office. No one in the review chain described above found prosecutable evidence of criminal activity.
“My office continues to support transparency and remains committed to sharing information with Oklahomans in a manner consistent with the obligation to protect the rights of informants and individuals who are not charged with a crime. We will continue to defend the integrity of the multicounty grand jury process and those who appear before it.”
In releasing the audits and their supporting materials, Hunter noted that the EPA’s Office of Inspector General also investigated complaints into possible bidding corruptions. The EPA found no evidence to support any of the allegations and took no further action.
The original audit was conducted before civil litigation caused the project to be re-bid. The original audit regarding the initial bidding process can be found, here: https://bit.ly/2GKlIlP.
Supporting documents can be found, here: https://bit.ly/2ICeOzK.
The second audit is the subject of the current litigation and what was investigated by multiple agencies. Read the second audit, here: https://bit.ly/2H8O2BY.
Supporting documents can be found, here: https://bit.ly/2qigQyf.
