Hofmeister's Pot Fund PAC: Over $3M for Late Hits on Stitt

How to Steal a State: Midterm Minute - November 1, 2022

Within this Midterm Minute:

• Public Pressure on OEC Reveals Imagine This Oklahoma as another Cannabis Industry Effort to Oust Stitt

• Big Cannabis Going All Out to Purchase Hofmeister as Governor: Common Cannabis-Linked Funder for Imagine This Oklahoma and The Oklahoma Project, Both for Hofmeister

• Imagine This Oklahoma Spent Big Cannabis Money and Missed Many OEC Deadlines

• One State Legislator has Been Watching Hofmeister’s Illegal Campaign Tactics and Prompting the OEC to Enforce the Law

Public Pressure on OEC Reveals Imagine This Oklahoma as another Cannabis Industry Effort to Oust Stitt

As suspected, Joy Hofmeister supporting PAC Imagine This Oklahoma had a reason for missing Oklahoma Ethics Commission (OEC) reporting deadlines in an effort to hide its funder until after the election, as reported in a previous Midterm Minute by The V1SUT Vantage. This publication called for Oklahomans to contact their legislators and demand timely transparency from the shady entity created by Oklahoma’s PAC-lady, Danielle Ezell of Heartland Campaigns and Mattise Group.

Danielle Ezell (Heartland Campaigns; Mattise Group) speaking to candidates.

Big Cannabis Going All Out to Purchase Hofmeister as Governor: Common Cannabis-Linked Funder for Imagine This Oklahoma and The Oklahoma Project, Both for Hofmeister

Imagine This Oklahoma is all cannabis money, again funneled through Oklahoma Forward, a shell entity uncovered by this publication previously. Oklahoma Forward is also the primary funder of The Oklahoma Project, another Stitt-hitting, Hofmeister-supporting entity.

From Season 5 (episode 3) of How to Steal a State:

The Oklahoma Project (PAC), which we came to know in Episode 2 of this season, and the source of approximately 95% of its funding, an entity named Oklahoma Forward, are a perfect example of this deceptive tactic. Oklahoma Forward was registered by attorney, Brian Ted Jones, who’s website prominently states:

“Brian Ted Jones is a lawyer dedicated to serving clients by helping them navigate the complex and rapidly changing landscape of Oklahoma medical marijuana law.”

Cannabis industry attorney, Brian Ted Jones

Given Jones’ involvement, a thinking person might assume that The Oklahoma Project is the cannabis industry’s attempt to oust Governor Stitt and his efforts to better regulate an industry that is wreaking havoc on everyday life for many Oklahomans due to an increase in criminal and cartel activities, black-market growing, labor and human trafficking, foreign entity purchases of land, strain on rural utility networks, homelessness and medical/mental health issues, particularly among younger people.

Shadowy PACs and IEs, like The Oklahoma Project, have a habit of delaying the required reporting of their donors to the Oklahoma Ethics Committee, despite state deadlines, keeping voters in the dark until after elections. In the case of The Oklahoma Project, omissions in the PAC’s last OEC reporting in April somehow lost $219,000 from their free-flowing pot fund, but perhaps they’re planning to get that corrected after the November election. Whether completely non-transparent or sufficiently opaque, these duplicitous entities tend to get the job done.

Imagine This Oklahoma Spent Big Cannabis Money and Missed Many OEC Deadlines

After a recent call from this publication for Oklahomans to contact their state representatives and demand the OEC step up and enforce the October 31st deadline for Imagine This Oklahoma to report its funders, a miracle in Oklahoma politics occurred.

After hours last night, Danielle Ezell quietly slipped a report in the system. It reveals Oklahoma Forward as the sole provider of the PAC’s $3,663,000 in contributions and a list of late reporting violations on millions of dollars in media buys that either attacked Governor Stitt (R) or supported Joy Hofmeister (D).

Imagine This Oklahoma

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As previously reported:

When PACs hit the airways with media buys over $5,000, disclosures of those buys are required to be made to the OEC in advance of airing and on the next business day following the purchase of the airtime. This allows voters to link political ad messages with their senders (and funders) in real-time.

The OEC will have a great deal of follow-up to do, we hope, on Imagine This Oklahoma’s string of late reports on media buys.

One State Legislator has Been Watching Hofmeister’s Illegal Campaign Tactics and Prompting the OEC to Enforce the Law

OK State Representative Justin (JJ) Humphrey (R) - District 19

Oklahoma State House Representative Justin (JJ) Humphrey recently issued a statement calling out Hofmeister for campaign violations related to the online and social media linking of her campaign to her current agency, the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) and calling for the OEC to step up its enforcement of the law. These violations of campaign law were uncovered by The Washington Examiner in a recent article:

Linked Washington Examiner article on Hofmeister violations of campaign law.

Representative Humphrey’s statement to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission (OEC) entitled “ETHIC DEBAUCHERY”:    

“It has just come to my attention that State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, now Democratic nominee for Oklahoma Governor, appears to have violated several state laws due to her social media activity. The Washington Examiner reports that Hofmeister’s state government website was linked to the campaign’s social media accounts, and the government has seemingly promoted her Twitter posts according to finance lawyers. Hofmeister is no stranger to controversy. She was criminally indicted in 2017 for campaign finance violations and conspiracy after allegedly raising money illegally and colluding with a dark money group. Charges were later dismissed under very questionable reasoning.
 
Oklahoma law holds that a person cannot campaign with "the use of public funds, property or time to engage in activities designed to influence the results of an election for state office or a state question." In addition, officials are barred from engaging in activities "designed to influence the results of an election for state office" on public time or posting "materials that advocate for the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate," according to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.
 
The Oklahoma Education Department's website was immediately scrubbed of social media links for the Democratic gubernatorial nominee's campaign following a Washington Examiner report quoting legal experts who said the links could violate state law. Joy Hofmeister, Oklahoma's superintendent of public instruction, who is running against Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, may have run afoul of ethics laws as her government website linked to her campaign's social media accounts. These accusations are based on what finance lawyers told the Washington Examiner. The fact that the department's Twitter has retweeted her campaign and tagged her campaign could also violate state law lawyers said. The Washington Examiner story was published and the website for the Education Department changed. Hofmeister's page no longer links to her campaign's Twitter and Facebook accounts. A review of the internet archive provides proof that the links were on the government website prior to the Washington Examiner's story being published.
 
I find it amazing that Superintendent Hofmeister is accusing Governor Stitt of corruption while being exposed for illegally using her state office, state personnel, equipment, and materials for her own personal campaign.  I am also equally baffled by the sources of her vast and substantial campaign spoils.
 
It is time for the Ethics Commission to kick in and restore election integrity. I and the rest of Oklahoma will be waiting.”

What is your representative doing to clean up elections in Oklahoma? You might want to ask them. If not for the independent press, concerned constituents contacting their legislators and Representative Humphrey’s involvement, voters would be stepping into the booth not knowing Hofmeister will answer to the cannabis industry if elected.