Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said Tuesday a federal judge was right to dismiss what he called a baseless lawsuit filed by Governor Kevin Stitt against education spending platform ClassWallet, a case Drummond previously withdrew his office from after determining it lacked legal merit.
U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton dismissed the case, finding it failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The ruling followed Drummond’s decision in December to remove the Attorney General’s Office from the litigation after reviewing the claims.
“This lawsuit was baseless from the outset and nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars,” Drummond said. “Overwhelming evidence has shown that Gov. Stitt and his administration rejected internal controls and oversight, as well as failed to use ClassWallet’s available controls, leaving his administration responsible for the payout failures that occurred.”
The lawsuit stemmed from the handling of Governor’s Education Emergency Relief funds distributed during the Covid-19 pandemic. An audit by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General found questionable expenditures and deficiencies in oversight involving approximately $31 million in GEER funds.
A separate audit by Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd reached similar conclusions, identifying more than 39,600 items that were improperly purchased and lacked an educational purpose. Those purchases included video game consoles, home appliances, furniture and Christmas trees, totaling about $1.7 million.
In his written order, Judge Heaton said the state’s complaint lacked sufficient factual allegations to support its claims, concluding the pleadings were not enough to establish a plausible breach of contract under the Bridge the Gap grant program.
