Henry Rejects Reynolds's Request For Probe

Rep. Mike Reynolds asked the governor Friday to appoint an independent special counsel to examine some questionable campaign contributions made by the attorney general the past several years, but Governor Henry rejected the request immediately.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson had used money from his own re-election campaign fund to contribute to other campaigns. Edmondson said last spring that when he discovered the mistake, he reimbursed his campaign.

Paul Sund, a spokesman for Henry, said the state Ethics Commission "is tasked with regulating the issue in question, so there is no need to appoint a special prosecutor."

Edmondson announced last spring that Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart and his campaign manager, Tim Pope, had been charged with criminal felony counts of laundering campaign money and conspiracy.

After Rinehart and Pope were charged, Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, accused Edmondson of making illegal campaign contributions. The attorney general issued a statement Friday saying that Reynolds' request of the governor for a special counsel "is a blatant and pathetic attempt to give cover to his political cronies, Brent Rinehart and Tim Pope."

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