Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony is asking the Oklahoma City law firm hired to investigate Commissioner Todd Hiett to be “thorough, independent and transparent” with the probe into allegations of drunkenness and groping of a man at a hotel bar.
Commissioner Anthony, who has called several times for Hiett to resign over his alcoholism and the alleged June incident in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sent an open letter to the Riggs Abney law firm on Wednesday, one day after the agency hired the law firm. The commission did not vote on the hiring but rather it was undertaken by Commission General Administrator Brandy Wreath.
As the firm indicated in a letter to Commission general counsel Patricia Franz, the probe will be conducted by attorneys Melvin C. Hall and Don Bingham. Each will charge a rate of $300 per hour during the investigation but the firm indicated the total cost will not be more than $25,000.
“The primary investigative tool will be interviews at locations to be agreed upon by the firm and the interviewee. All interviews will be strictly voluntary and will be arranged be anyone wishing to come forward and speak with the investigator(s) and the Firm. The Firm will maintain the confidentiality of those giving statements and will provide to the OCC an anonymized
Report of Findings and Recommendations. If required, the Firm will prepare to defend the OCC in related civil litigation. Any information obtained during the course of the investigation that
involves behavior of a criminal nature will be referred to the investigator assigned to this matter at the Office of the Attorney General,” stated the law firm.
Commissioner Anthony remained openly critical of the hiring process.
“These investigators were not independently chosen as I would have preferred,” stated Anthony, “but if the blindfold and handcuffs are removed from the current scope and the results are substantially made public, this sham, illegitimate inestigation could be made thorough, independent, transparent and most importantly, legitimate.”
He has also called for a formal recorded vote of the commission at its next meeting “to make clear to the public who is resonsible for the way this exceptional circumstance is being handled and who is responsible for the consequences for the agency and the public good.” Anthony noted during the Tuesday meeting that the investigators and the scope of the probe were chosen by subordinates of Commissioner Hiett whose jobs depend on the commissioners.
Commissioner Anthony questioned why the existing contract with the law firm does not include making the investigators’ Report of Findings and Recommendations available to the public but does include providing it to Commissioner Hiett.
Hiett has refused to resign from the commission and is accused of public drunkenness, sexual assault, sexual harassment and drunk driving.
Anthony asked the law firm to provide recommendations for changes to the proposed scope of the investigation “consequences of which are fully in the public interest and do the most possible public good.” A statement from his office indicated Anthony attached a proposed engagement letter received Wednesday from the OCC general counsel that defined the scope of the investigation as “an independent investigation of Commissioner misconduct impacting Commission employees or others who do business with the commission.”
Anthony indicated his request of the law firm raises questions about the current scope of the investigation, including why it does not include: former employees impact; the agency’s response (or lack thereof) to the allegations of misconduct when personnel first became aware; possible coverup at the agency; unrestricted access to agency records; and recommendations for changes “that would better enable the agency to prevent and more effectively respond to such incidents and circumstances in the future.”