Cargill, Others Respond To Donation Questions

House Speaker Lance Cargill today responded to questions about a reported Ethics Commission investigation of Republican House political action committee fundraising in 2004 with this statement:

"Rules on Ethics Commission inquiries are designed to protect confidentiality. We are not aware of any ethics violations that have occurred, but to be absolutely clear: I did not solicit, receive, deposit or expend any Victory Fund checks.

"Our political opponents know that Ethics Commission rules are designed to protect confidentiality. And our opponents are trying to use those rules against us by leaking information to the press which grossly misrepresents both the law and the facts regarding this matter.

"With respect to any Ethics Commission inquiry, we are glad to cooperate with the commission.

"We will play by the rules and work diligently with the Ethics Commission to resolve any matter, and to show that unfounded claims that have been made are false. We know that’s the right thing to do."

And shortly after Cargill's statement was issued, five current and one former lawmaker issued a joint statement regarding checks written from their campaign accounts to the Oklahoma Republican Party during the 2004 election cycle. The lawmakers issuing the joint statement were Rep. Don Armes (R-Lawton); Rep. Dennis Adkins (R-Tulsa); Rep. Chris Benge (R-Tulsa); Rep. Dale DeWitt (R-Braman); Rep. Ron Peterson (R-Tulsa); and former Rep. John Smaligo (R-Owasso).

“In the fall of 2004 checks were written to the Oklahoma Republican Party out of our individual campaign accounts to go toward statewide Republican election efforts. This was a transfer of surplus funds that is expressly allowed under state ethics rules. There appears to be recent misinformation implying that these funds were solicited by or sent to then-Rep. Lance Cargill. This is not true. In addition, none of us communicated with the Republican party about how these funds were to be expended."

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