Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor has an op-ed over at Ignite Liberty addressing the issue of "nonbinary" birth certificates and his role in stopping them.
O'Connor is running for a full term as AG, having been appointed last July by Governor Stitt to complete disgraced Attorney General Mike Hunter's term after Hunter resigned. Read his column below:
From the folks over at IgniteLiberty, here is another post in the saga of OCPAC President Bob Linn's obsession with attacking State Auditor Cindy Byrd:
Letters to the Editor: Cathy Costello Letter to OCPAC Following Romero Attack
Rumors have been swirling recently that Bob Linn and OCPAC's crusade against Cindy Byrd was going to culminate in the organization endorsing Mike Romero to run against Cindy in the upcoming statewide primaries. Many conservatives believe that this is one of, if not the main, reason why OCPAC invited Romero to give a presentation about the OSDH scandal a few years back which involved the "missing" $30M (it was never actually missing).
Curiously enough, and in a manner that would be fitting with an attempt to attack a future political opponent, Romero's presentation made a point of attempting to tie Cindy Byrd to the audit of the OSDH scandal, even though Gary Jones was the State Auditor and Inspector at the time that was responsible for the audit.
Following Romero's presentation, Andrew Speno and Cathy Costello went to talk to him about the inclusion of Byrd in the presentation. What follows is a letter from Mrs. Costello sent to Bob Linn, president of OCPAC, that details that account:
Bob, I wanted to give a little time and space from the incident last week before responding. When you invited me to sing for OCPAC, I was unaware who Mike Romero was. You told me he would be talking about corruption at the health dept. I did remember hearing something about 30 million missing from the health dept., but that it was eventually found.
It is always good to hear all sides of a story, even if it's 4-5 years old. I saw several people in line speaking to Mr. Romero after his presentation. I decided to go over and simply introduce myself. I shook his hand and told him I was the widow of Labor Commissioner Mark Costello.
While I was standing there, I heard Andrew Speno ask Mr. Romero, in a CALM tone, why he kept showing Cindy Byrd's picture next to Gary Jones, frequently referring to "they," and mentioning her name. He asked what Cindy Byrd had to do with this situation at the health dept. Mr. Romera became agitated and denied he had done this during the presentation. But...he had in fact said, "Gary Jones and Cindy Byrd would not talk to me" and he did in fact show Cindy Byrd's photo multiple times, saying "they" and giving the impression that she was involved. He then began blaming Cindy and holding her responsible.
Mr. Romero's response to Andrew Speno's question was so adolescent. Raising his voice, he yelled, "I'm the son of immigrants!! Those people on the screen made fun of my last name because it ends in an O!!!" I immediately thought to myself, this man is so thinned skinned and immature, he has no business in government. I also thought, my name ends in an O and so does Andrew's.
The Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) has a decades-long history of involvement in Oklahoma politics, most famously under founder and longtime president Charlie Meadows. Meadows retired from leading the group in 2015, and there seems to have been a shift in direction and focus under the latest OCPAC president, Bob Linn.
For over a year now, Linn has been fixated on State Auditor Cindy Byrd, making almost weekly references to her in OCPAC emails regarding the 2017 financial mismanagement scandal at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Linn has made numerous open records requests and claims that Byrd is dragging her feet and attempting "to thwart [his] attempt to reveal the full truth regarding the OSDH scandal."
Today, the blog Ignite Liberty posted a letter that Byrd sent in October to OCPAC board members, the first public revelation of this other than a brief mention by Linn in an OCPAC email the following week:
Ignite Liberty Exclusive: State Auditor Issues Response to OCPAC Allegations
[excerpt; full article link]
Anyone who receives the weekly emails from OCPAC or have attended any of their meetings over the past year plus knows that OCPAC President Bob Linn has continuously criticized State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd and her office for an alleged lack of timeliness in response to numerous Open Records Requests that Mr. Linn had submitted through an entity known as Corporations Funding Education, and not through OCPAC itself.
