Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s recent response to a judge’s decision to grant summary judgment in the lawsuit challenging Oklahoma’s anti-ESG act raised some questions whether his comments were political in nature.
In a press release made after Oklahoma County District Judge Sheila Stinson granted the summary judgment in Don Keenan’s lawsuit, Drummond jumped all over Treasurer Todd Russ and the attorney he originally hired to defend the Treasurer in the lawsuit filed in December 2023.
A spokesman for Drummond disagreed with the characterization, saying the Attorney General’s criticism of the Treasurer’s action “simply lays out what happened and why the anti-ESG law is where it is.”
“The Treasurer explicitly rejected the course that the AG advised to defend the law, a rejection that obviously proved detrimental to the law. AG Drummond is committed to defending the law going forward,” explained Phil Bacharach in response to an inquiry by OK Energy Today.
Remember, Russ claimed he asked the Attorney General to represent him in the case and received little support, so he hired none other than Cheryl Plaxico, ex-wife of Mike Hunter, the attorney who beat Drummond in a 2018 race for Attorney General. Hunter was married to Plaxico when he beat Drummond by 271 votes in the August 2018 primary runoff.
Plaxico is also an attorney and later was divorced by Hunter who resigned from office following an affair with a state worker.
Drummond didn’t identify Plaxico by name following last week’s court ruling, but in May he yanked the case from her hands.
““Treasurer Russ was insistent that he be allowed to choose his own counsel to defend the lawsuit, and I acquiesced,” said Drummond at the time.
(Treasurer Todd Russ)
“No longer will I allow professional courtesy to influence my decisions on this matter. Effective immediately, I have terminated Treasurer Russ’s hand-picked counsel and removed the treasurer from any decision-making role in the lawsuit. My office will handle all elements of the case moving forward.”
In May after the judge granted a temporary suspension of the Act, Drummond heaped criticism on Plaxico.
“It is extremely disappointing that the counsel hired by Treasurer Russ was unable to secure a favorable ruling in defense of Oklahoma’s anti-ESG law,” Drummond said. “Because of this failure, the law is now on hold and at risk of being struck down entirely. Oklahomans deserve better.”
But his assistants also failed to convince Judge Stinson some weeks ago that the Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Elimination Act was constitutional. That’s when Drummond turned his anger toward Treasurer Russ, saying the Act would not be in “this predicament” had Russ not insisted on using his preferred legal counsel (Plaxico) to defend it.
“I am committed to repairing the damage done by the Treasurer and his hand-picked attorney. Frankly, Oklahomans deserved better than allowing this law to be jeopardized,” he said in the statement issued on Friday after the judge filed her decision.
Plaxico did not respond to a request for comment made by OK Energy Today. The Treasurer’s office responded Tuesday with a statement.
“The Treasurer is hopeful and confident Attorney General Drummond will achieve a positive outcome at the Supreme Court. We look forward to seeing his efforts succeed, which we believe will uphold the best interests of Oklahoma and its citizens.”
Plaxico has experience in other controversial issues. When she was an attorney hired by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, she sued ClassWallet for alleged improper spending of federal COVID funds provided Oklahoma.
She also represented the Education Department in its move to create a state-funded virtual Catholic school.
