 | Joy Hofmeister was hit with felony charges stemming from her 2014 bid to unseat Janet Barresi as the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Fount Holland and Stephanie Milligan were among others charged with their part in the alleged scheme. The Oklahoman posted a more complete report, here. Hofmeister, of Tulsa, is accused of illegally colluding with a dark money group in 2014. Prosecutors say she used the group, Oklahomans for Public School Excellence, to secretly accept illegal excessive donations and illegal corporate donations. Lela Odom and Steven Crawford are also named in the court action. This culminates from a two-year investigation that involved multiple interviews and the review of thousands of emails and text messages. If convicted of a felony or embezzlement, Hofmeister would be ineligible to serve in state elective office. Developing... |
 In August, Prater sought a search warrant based upon an affidavit.. According to the affidavit, individuals reported that employees of the political consulting firm, AH Strategies, and a co-founder of the “dark money” nonprofit, Oklahomans for a Conservative Future, approached people and "demanded" they donate money to both the dark money group and candidates being promoted by the consulting firm. The affidavit suggested “coordination and collusion” could be involved to promote the same candidates. When the affidavit was filed, District Attorney David Prater said that his office’s inquiry had now become a criminal investigation. Illegal coordination would violate federal laws in congressional races and state laws in state and local races. Fount Holland, owner of AH Strategies, denied in a written statement to Oklahoma Watch that his firm carried out any improper coordination with Oklahomans for a Conservative Future. More on the August search warrant... Read more from KGOU. “There was absolutely and unequivocally no coordination,” Holland wrote. |  |
