In a series of interviews with local Republicans it is clear the Republican Party of Tulsa County is deeply fractured. Vice Chairman Rebecca Marks Jimerson has gone missing from party activities, other officials are nonresponsive. This writing is a call for accountability so the party may repair and respond successfully to local, state, and national challenges. Sadly, there are questions of legitimacy in the last Convention. Further, if there are leadership betrayals by party officials, should we dare elect the same officials to public office?

The first County Committee meeting since the Convention has been called for Saturday July 30. That group consists of precinct chairs and vice chairs and those elected to leadership at the last convention. “The County Committee of each county is the supreme Republican Party authority of the county, subject to these rules and the direction and control of County Conventions” according to the State Rules (Rule 6: B). This email is being sent in large part to those who preregistered for the last Convention and thus most directly responsible for the operation of the Republican Party of Tulsa County.

Ronda V. Smith, Tulsa County Republican Chairman, in a recent interview declared, “The party is great.”

Many disagree.

The Tulsa County Republican Convention in 2021 was chaired by John Eagleton, who said, “The Convention could have been a wonderful vehicle to recruit maybe 500 new enthusiastic members into our ranks. Instead because of the delays and discombobulated nature of the Convention itself, I believe it was off-putting. I believe we hurt ourselves long-term.

“I was merely running the Convention from the agenda provided by Bob Jack, GOP Chairman. Having chaired numerous meetings and knowing Roberts Rules of Order helps, besides I have a bit louder voice than the average bear.”

Eagleton continued, “The time frame for speakers running for office was established on the agenda provided. The agenda was set by then-County Chairman Bob Jack and the Rules of the Oklahoma Republican Party on how to have meetings. I don’t believe time frames are established for speakers.

“First time participants, who had not attended before, did not see a well-run machine or party apparatus hitting on all cylinders. They saw a discombobulated, slow moving, unorganized, what I call a ‘goat rope,’” Eagleton concluded.

 “My job was to handle the technical side of the event including the audio, video and to secure the wi-fi connection with the venue throughout the event,” said Joe Hart.

“As Chairman of the Party Bob Jack was the decision maker and ultimately responsible for the operation of the Convention. I dealt just with Bob Jack and the venue in terms of getting the tech stuff set up. During the event, Jack ran out of ballots for attendees to use so I hooked up my laptop so he could access his email and download the stuff he needed to print off additional ballots. I thought it was strange at the time, but there was so much chaos that it was hard to tell what was going on.

“It seemed that everyone was unprepared and everything ran long. You had the attendees who waited an exorbitant amount of time to get in. Everyone expected this to be over by noon to 1:00 pm at the latest. It ended up running past 5 pm which forced the event to end to keep the Party from having to pay additional rental.

“The balloting process was confused as to who was counting votes for what area. In my area, there was a lady who wanted to vote for someone who had left early. Voting was a complete mess. To be honest, it is hard to say if the votes were tabulated correctly or not,” Hart said.

“While the vote count was underway, the computer screen was being turned off and on by Michael Bates who [alone] was tabulating the votes and running the computer. When you are doing a screen mirror to a projector there is no need to shut the projection down as you are moving between tabs. For whatever reason, Bates must have felt he needed to hide what he was doing. I don’t know what that was all about, but he kept doing it.

“We were forced to leave that night without a final resolution of votes. They had this extremely complicated spreadsheet that weighted the votes based on representation by each precinct, so it had all these calculations and we had to take Bate’s word that it was all on the up-and-up,” Hart said.

Again, Rule 6:A2 of the Oklahoma Republican Party declares, “The County Chairman and Vice Chairman shall be elected by the regular biennial County Convention, by roll call vote or by secret ballot…” However, the vote was counted at the Tulsa County Republican Headquarters after the Convention ended and final tally provided to attendees by email contrary to all protocol.

Cherie Cook said, “Never ask registrants to leave and tell them you will email voting results. I was taught that is against the rules – everyone must be present and witness voting and results.”

Precinct Chair Larry Scott said, “The Convention was like 9th grade high school. There is off the shelf technology that could expedite the entire voting process. People expect things to be organized. I will still walk my neighborhood for candidates, but the Party Chairman should be a person that energizes people to be involved, but that is not what we have. We have become too hard line and without grace with each other, that makes it harder to recruit democrats to join us.”

Cook said, “I offered to help with credentialing, but Bob Jack would not let me do the work.  He only had two people checking in.  No one else was allowed.  It was a Bob Jack decision.”

On the matter of “grace with each other” one candidate for Chairman Darren Gantz was heckled during his campaign speech. Even more outrageous is that his opponent and later declared victor of the election, Ronda V. Smith, was the primary heckler joined by then County Chairman Bob Jack, now a State Committeeman, and the vote tabulator Michael Bates both were on the stage positioned behind Gantz.

Hart said of that portion of the Convention, “as Gantz was running for chair and while he was giving his speech, he was heckled by Michael Bates, Bob Jack and Ronda V. Smith at the same time. Ronda started it then Bates and Jack chimed in. When Jack joined, I had been talking with him and I point blank told him that I had known Darren a long time and I knew what they were saying was not true. I asked him, do you have proof? Jack said he did and knew it to be true and that he would send that proof. Here we are over a year later and Jack never sent me proof.

“The event that they were talking about was a debate when Darren was President of the Tulsa Republican Men’s Club when both sides of the National Popular Vote issue debated. That was common for both sides on any issue to debate at the club when Darren was President – it didn’t mean he took one side or the other. I thought Republicans supported the First Amendment and welcomed serious debate on issues,” Hart continued. “For some reason, Darren’s critics thought that was a bad idea. I found that very dishonest and improper to do that at a convention. I thought Republicans held themselves to a higher standard. I guess not all do.”

Janice Ponds said, “When the Convention convened, I was pumped. I had never been to anything like that in my life, I was absolutely fascinated. Darren Gantz was there with Dr. Paula Price, Idris Shelby, Jon McGrath, and hundreds of amazing people. Then there was another specific group of people that were going around saying not to vote for Darren. They were discrediting him. They were slandering Darren claiming he supported the National Popular Vote position, so I went to him and asked, and he said it was not true. Still these people slandering Darren came to me and people who trusted me trying to turn our votes.

“When the candidates for party office spoke, many were outstanding. Dr. Price was stellar. But when Darren got up to speak there were people sitting behind him [on stage] that interrupted his presentation. I saw it. They started accusing him of falsehoods. I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, what is going on.’ Darren declared from the stage that the accusations were untrue. Some people were being antagonistic while he was trying to give a speech. It was rude and obnoxious – it was vicious. It was like an orchestrated character assignation in front of the entire assembly.

“I was like, Okay welcome to the GOP. Wow, just wow,” Ponds added.

Prior to the Convention, this writer also filed for the office of Chairman. I was not a part of the two slates of proposed officers. I was provided no detailed agenda nor any opportunity for consultation with leadership. Further, Bob Jack shut down online registration several hours before the previously announced cutoff time and I called him to object. Jack said he was running the convention and it was his decision and there was nothing to talk about. At the event, candidates were only allowed two minutes to speak for a leadership position lasting two years and the order of speakers was set by Bob Jack. Nomination speeches were not allowed. No compromise to any objection was considered by Jack, but when Jack, Bates and Smith (candidate for the same office) attacked Gantz it was the most outrageous behavior I have ever seen within the party – county, district or state – in my lifetime.

Dan Hicks said, “Though I am 100% Pro-Life, for limited government lower taxes, real school choice (where the money follows the student) and was endorsed by the NRA in my 2018 run for Oklahoma House District 79, I did not attend the Tulsa County Republican Convention last year.

“I believe the Tulsa County Republican Party has been hijacked by a group of ideologues that are more akin to Libertarians than Republicans. The Tulsa GOP leadership is not only out of step with most conservative Republicans, but they are also now meddling in local Republican primary elections to select candidates, rather than allowing the voters to choose their leaders. This must stop,” Hicks emphasized.

Hart said, “There would have to be a whole sea-change in organization before I would ever attend again. Burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice, shame on me. I don’t go to the various club meetings. The convention turned me off and I don’t want to have anything to do with party leadership.”

Bob Jack is currently running for Tulsa County Commissioner District 3 with mailers proclaiming, “Bob Jack is… not a politician.” It is true Jack has never won public office having come in fourth out of five in his last primary and next to last in his current primary. He refuses to concede and faces frontrunner businessman Kelly Dunkerley August 23. How Jack can claim he is not a politician when he spent two years as Treasurer then two years as Chairman and currently is listed as a State Committee person for the Republican Party of Tulsa County is beyond understanding. Tulsa Today has covered this race with multiple stories most recently in the article, https://www.tulsatoday.com/2022/07/03/tulsa-republican-chairman-lies-for-bob-jack/ in which current Republican Chairperson Ronda V. Smith falsely claimed on a local radio show Bob Jack was endorsed by the third place runner up Margie Alfonso.

Chairperson Ronda V. Smith’s behavior after the convention is also problematic. In the formal interview Smith was asked: How have you built the structure of the County Party? Have you developed new precinct chairs and grown precinct participation?

Smith said, “Many people have asked to be precinct chairs, but when they are asked to get out and work their precinct – they really don’t want to do that. We held training classes. Claudia Streetman is out there and doing a wonderful job teaching how to work the precincts. I take advantage of Claudia being out there and doing that, but as far as any other methods, we haven’t done anything…”

Streetman held a training session with this writer’s precinct and with another precinct chair then all went to canvas the precinct. As a precinct chair, I appreciate her effort. She has, at her own expense, printed materials and distributed them at that meeting but when called for comment after Smith’s interview she said, “I haven’t gone out recently but did some training. I did my own thing and Ronda did support that.” She was asked what her plan going forward would be, but she said she would call Ronda and get back on that.  She has not called back and messages to her have not been returned since.

Janice Ponds said, “I got elected as a Precinct Chair and I haven’t got any direction to what I am supposed to be doing from the GOP Office. The helpful direction I gathered was from Dr. Price’s efforts. I have worked with Dr. Price helping in a campaign and to get people registered to vote and I loved it. I want to do that in my precinct, but I would like to get someone to go with me door-to-door. I knew Darren had a specific program to focus on precinct chairs to help them, but he didn’t win leadership of the county party. I went to one program that claimed to be training that Ronda was spearheading, but it focused on a phone application, called Voter Gravity I believe, but I found out later that it didn’t work and fell by the wayside. No one has contacted me from the Republican Party of Tulsa County.

“I am on social media and influential in my community. I will likely participate in the next GOP Convention because we have a country to save. But I am so tired of spineless RINOS and I am not giving a dime to the national party until they show me they will stand for America.”

Ponds spoke on her transition to Republican saying, “I grew up in the South as a died-in-the-wool Democrat with a black twist. I was always told that I was to vote a straight Democrat ticket. Finally, I asked why? My daddy’s answer was, “because you are black.” That arrested me. I wanted to know why I was supposed to do anything because I was a Black American. I dove into politics and did my own research. I dove into original documents including the Civil War. When I found out my great grandmother was a slave; I became even more interested. As a result, I was blown away by what I found on the two main political parties in America. I found out I had been lied to – absolutely lied to in terms of history I had been taught. I learned so much that I wrote a book, “Stealing the Minds of America – A Must for All True Seekers Who Vote.” https://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Minds-America-Must-Truth-Seekers/dp/0881443182

“I found out my mind had been effectively and strategically stolen. I left the Democrat Party and became a Republican not even understanding what that meant. Learning how to think for myself politically is what drew me to the Republican Party. As a Black Democrat, you didn’t ask questions. You did what they said do. That’s just how it was. When my eyes opened to history that was accurately told and God put it on my heart to write a book about it my life went to another level, and I have never been the same since. I deal with social, political and spiritual issues affecting us as Americans. I embrace truth.

Edit Note: This writer is looking forward to reviewing Ms. Ponds book and interviewing her further for publication soon.

There are many talented, skilled, and dedicated Republicans in Tulsa County, but they are not being drawn into the party organization and that may be good news given all.

An Edmond man has been charged with Abuse by Caretaker following an investigation by the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU). Gerald Ngwa, 37, was arrested on July 22, 2022, by an MFCU agent and an Oklahoma County Sheriff Deputy.

The MFCU investigation began after a referral was received from the Oklahoma City Police Department regarding a report of potential abuse by caretaker at Villagio Senior Living in Oklahoma City. During the investigation, MFCU agents obtained witness statements and other evidence confirming Ngwa slapped a resident on the left side of her face above the eye. At the time of the alleged incident, Ngwa was a nurse working at Villagio through a third-party staffing agency.

Abuse by Caretaker is a felony and, if convicted, Ngwa faces up to 10 years in prison and/or fines up to $10,000.00. Following arrest, Ngwa was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail and subsequently released on July 22^nd after posting bond. As with all defendants, Ngwa is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in a court of law.

The Oklahoma MFCU investigates and prosecutes cases of abuse, neglect, drug diversion, and financial exploitation of elderly and vulnerable adults. In this role, the MFCU serves as a safeguard against caretakers who abuse, neglect, or exploit vulnerable Oklahomans.

The Oklahoma MFCU has statewide jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute violations of state and federal laws pertaining to provider fraud in the administration of the Medicaid program. Additionally, the MFCU pursues and monitors Qui Tam or whistleblower litigation at the Oklahoma level and on a national level in conjunction with other state’s MFCU and U.S. Attorneys offices. The MFCU can recover Medicaid funds by pursuing criminal sanctions, civil judgments, or administrative recoveries.

The Oklahoma MFCU receives 75% percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $3,424,943.00 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2022. The remaining 25% percent, totaling $856,235.00 for FY 2022, is funded by the State of Oklahoma. The federal fiscal year is defined as October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022.  

To file a complaint with the Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Control Unit call 1-405-522-2963 or through the following link.

,Abuse by Caretaker Charges
Click on this headline to read the full report at Tulsa Today.

When established power structures are challenged, they respond typically first by ignoring challenge, then with ridicule and finally in direct attack. It happens in Oklahoma, nationally and in many media markets, but it is most visible in the history of First Amendment Champions James O’Keefe, founder of Project Veritas, and Glenn Greenwald, now of Substack. The recent conference, FREEDOMFEST 2022: Collapse of Journalistic Gatekeeping: How Independents Are Reaching New Audiences offered hope with specifics in their calls to engage.

In Oklahoma, The V1SUT Vantage offering How to Steal a State and Project Red Man, an independent journalist investigating Oklahoma and Native American issues both on Substack and others are increasing coverage of critical issues. Patrick B. McGuigan, an Oklahoma Hall of Fame journalist is Editor Emeritus and reporter for The Oklahoma City Sentinel and founder, publisher and editor of CapitolBeatOK.com we note as the honored senior of the craft and Tulsa Today which you are reading (thank you for that) continue the fight locally.

At FreedomFest’s offering in Las Vegas, Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe and Glenn Greenwald broke down what the definition of journalism really is.

Glenn Greenwald: You know, when related to James, it was notable when the FBI situation happened, the number of blue check journalists on Twitter who wanted to argue that the First Amendment doesn’t really apply to you, the freedom of the press. Because you’re not the press. It always amazes me. The number of reporters who have these situations come up, feel like that section, the First Amendment belongs only to professional journalists, and because you’re excluded [from it], it doesn’t apply. I think that’s a key point that there’s — it is this incredible misconception that’s being promulgated on purpose by employees of media corporations who might have the job title in their HR file of journalists. But what they really are is employees and media corporations. They want to create this fiction that somehow there’s a part of the Constitution that isn’t for every American citizen, even though it says it is. This part of the Constitution is like this secret little part that applies only to people who earn the title journalist. And if you go back and look at how journalism was practiced and the freedom of the press, it was, you know, the actual literal press, the printing press, which is what they were protecting. Most of the people who were using that to agitate against the crown were not journalists. That that was not a profession. It was like, they’re like, here’s a surgeon, here’s a lawyer. Here’s a journalist — that didn’t exist. Journalism as James suggested was something that citizens could use as a tool, just like freedom of speech to agitate against those in power. It is an activity that’s protected, available to everybody. And the idea that there’s now this like, cloistered license status that you need to prove that you belong to. And the other irony of it is in some way, the irony is, is that the more stories you break of significance, somehow in their eyes, the less of a journalist you are. Which is why, if you ask most of these employees of media corporations, do they think [Julian Assange] should be in prison? They’ll say, ‘yeah, of course he’s not a journalist,’ even though they could live to be 5,000 years old and never get close to the number of significant stories he’s broken. And you know, the same is true with James. And there’s an attempt to [weed] me out of journalism as well, despite the stories I’ve done. So, I mean, it’s kind of this inversion, it’s the ultimate propaganda.

Further during a panel that included James and Eric Metaxas, Eric explained why journalism is such an essential activity for a free society.

Eric Metaxas: What we’re really talking about here, in the context of journalism, is a moral issue. Do you believe there’s such a thing as truth? What is truth? What does it mean to speak the truth? What price are you willing to pay? Or, are you some kind of whore, who does not believe in anything, is willing to sell your soul and your credentials and anything for money? I think that it’s curious to live in a time when, you know, most of us have been drifting through this wonderful time in America where we haven’t had to face anything like this, but I think- when I wrote my biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I can kind of smell that what I was writing about happening in Germany in the early thirties was coming in our direction. I mean, I can sense it, and so then the question is: Will I stand? Will I do what he did?

James O’Keefe: I think it all comes down to fear. This whole thing is really about fear because a lot of people know the truth and want to support it, but they’re afraid of what the impact will be to them. You have to follow your conscience, even if it means enduring pain. FBI agents in my apartment. I said this yesterday, you know, I was — when they did that, you know, they pointed guns at me, threw me against the wall, took my stuff, and I thought, ‘Is this the America that I grew up, like, pledging allegiance to the flag in, like, elementary school?’ What is this dystopian nightmare?

Project Veritas declares their recommendation: fight for truth, engage in journalism, AND NEVER BACK DOWN.

,Journalism is activity, not identity
Click on this headline to read the full report at Tulsa Today.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Intelligence gathered by agents from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ (ODOC) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) resulted in the seizure of 2,500 fentanyl pills intended for an Oklahoma prison the agency reported today.

Inspector General Ted Woodhead estimated the value of the pills inside a prison to be at least $125,000.

“The value of these pills could potentially be more depending on the security level of the facility,” Woodhead said. “It’s a lot of pills to be seized at once.”

Utilizing intelligence gathered as part of ongoing efforts to stop the introduction of contraband into ODOC facilities, agents from the Criminal Interdiction Division contacted investigators from the United States Postal Service (USPS) to locate the drugs using their tracking number. USPS investigators determined the package was in a sorting facility in Oklahoma City.

On July 5, OIG and USPS investigators intercepted the package and seized it as evidence. The sender’s information on the package listed a return address in Bowling Green, Kentucky. However, agents believe the sender used an alias.

No charges have been filed yet as a result of this investigation, which is ongoing. Fentanyl is produced in China then shipped to Mexico for import into America. Drug dealers sell it often online as a prescription drug by other names – may have died in this criminal poisoning.

The seized pills were stamped “M30” to indicate they are counterfeit oxycodone, which exponentially increases their lethality. Fentanyl, the driving force behind a nationwide overdose epidemic, is 100 times more powerful than morphine and cheaper to produce. Fentanyl and fentanyl-laced drugs are pushed heavily by traffickers because they increase the user’s high while at the same time increasing the dealer’s profit margins. A microscopic dose of fentanyl is enough to kill an adult, meaning any pill containing the substance can be lethal.

“There’s no doubt this seizure saved lives,” said ODOC Director Scott Crow. “Not only will we avoid inmates overdosing in a facility, but we have removed a dangerously valuable commodity from the inmate population, one which would otherwise be used to control people and incite violence.”

“The intelligence-gathering efforts of the Criminal Interdiction Division of the OIG continue to deliver to results that protect inmates, staff, and the public.”

Broadcast news reports on the fentanyl crisis follow.

,Seizure stops Fentanyl headed to OK Prison
Click on this headline to read the full report at Tulsa Today.

Attorney General John O’Connor Thursday announced Oklahoma has joined a coalition of 19 states filing an amicus brief at the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in Texas v. United States. The coalition opposes the federal immigration policy, which halts nearly all arrests and deportations, even for immigrants convicted of crimes, and drastically ties […]

Read the full report at TulsaToday.com

,AG O’Connor to SCOTUS: Stop danger
Click on this headline to read the full report at Tulsa Today.

Launched the first of June, a new investigative site in Oklahoma connects the detailed dots on Oklahoma Political Power Players. From massive corruption within the state’s educational establishment to the cannabis industry’s growing influence, to the construction industry’s “big dog” ability to under bid, over bill and skate consequences apparently by political influence before and […]

Read the full report at TulsaToday.com

,Stealing state site connects the dots
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Jonathan Small, president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Friday filed a complaint with the Oklahoma State Bar Association against Rep. Anthony Moore, an attorney and former prosecutor. The complaint alleges blatant legal flaws in the protective orders that Moore admits in assisting his spouse to file against Small and other OCPA staff members. […]

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,Protective Order abuse alleged
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Governor Kevin Stitt has called for a special audit of the Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) at the request of two Board members. State Auditor Cindy Byrd will conduct the audit over whether TPS mishandled public funds. Ryan Walters, Republican candidate for State Superintendent and current Secretary of Education, issued the following statement: “We’ve had enough. […]

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,Ed. Sec. Walters on TPS Audit
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Every state is a border state under the Biden/Obama Administration as President Biden has invited the world to invade without limitation absent health screenings or background checks. Apparently, only when caught transporting drugs can they be refused or returned. What is Oklahoma doing? We have had our children killed both directly and indirectly by drug […]

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,Oklahoma must act
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In the race for Tulsa County Commissioner District 3, three candidates stood for election in the primary June 28 with Kelly Dunkerley receiving 11,564 votes or 49.15%, Bob Jack gathering 8,374 votes or 35%, and Margie Alfonso with 3,314 votes or 15.26% of the total. Bob Jack is the immediate past-Chairman of the Republican Party […]

Read the full report at TulsaToday.com

,Republican Chairman lies for Bob Jack
Click on this headline to read the full report at Tulsa Today.