Coates' Missing File Investigation Called Off At His Request, April 30 Letter Shows

A Department of Public Safety investigation into the disappearance of a confidential file in the possession of Republican Senator Harry Coates has ended at his request, The McCarville Report Online has learned.

A letter from Coates, R-Seminole, dated April 30, reports that the investigation to that point had found nothing conclusive and to avoid additional expense, he asked that it end.

Coates wrote that the number of individuals with access to his office, and the cost associated with interviewing large numbers of people, prompted his request that the probe end. He urged senators to take steps to secure confidential files in their offices.

The letter was sent to senators, with copies to Senate Co-President Pro Tem Mike Morgan, Co-President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, Attorney General Drew Edmondson, Commissioner of Public Safety Kevin Ward, and Senate Chief of Staff Dr. Tom Walls.

The file, which contained email exchanges connected to House Bill 1804, the state's new immigration law, became a controversial topic of discussion over both where it was when it disappeared, and because of its contents. Emails apparently in the file appeared on a blog that has been the center of continued attacks on Coates over his opposition to the new law.

Coates said the file apparently disappeared from his office; those attacking him claimed he or someone else left it where it was found by someone who then sent the contents to the Missouri-based blogger, who then printed excerpts. Christoper Arps, who operates Oklahoma Political News Service, said, "I received them in the mail in a plain manila envelope with no return address."

Asked by a reporter for Fox 25 News if he left the file in a restroom, Coates said, “No, that’s not the way it happened, I promise you.”

After some of those emails were made public, Coates said, “...this is an overt attempt to embarrass and intimidate anyone who does not agree with the immigration law. The Senate is currently conducting an internal investigation in an attempt to discover who is behind this. Once we learn their identity, that information will be turned over to law enforcement, and we would expect it to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The internal probe apparently involved a review of camera images of the hallway outside Coates' office. That review obviously produced no evidence the file was taken from Coates' office.

Senate Co-President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, said at the time that Senate "security breaches" would be addressed aggressively.

"We are trying to find out the facts internally," Coffee said. "At some point, we probably would bring in the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, once we find out what has gone on."

Coates said he does not believe that any lawmakers are behind what he called the theft of the file with the e-mails.

He said the publication of the private e-mails on the blog could stifle debate on issues.

"Some of the material has been taken out of context with the rather obvious purpose of embarrassing anyone who dares to defy those who relish the thought of ridding our state of people who speak another language, legal or illegal," Coates, whose family operates a Seminole roofing company, said.

Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, the author of House Bill 1804, called the incidents "bizarre."

He said he doesn't believe that supporters of his legislation were behind the missing documents.

"The pressure of being on the wrong side of an 80-20 issue has apparently gotten to Senator Coates," Terrill said at the time.

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