The Oklahoma Ethics Commission voted to open another formal investigation into Rep. Ajay Pittman (D-OKC) after a lengthy executive session during a meeting today. The commission also voted to make more information public on the first case against her, which was approved for litigation in Oklahoma County District Court last month.
Additionally, commissioners voted to reveal that the agency is investigating the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, a nonprofit organization that advocates for easing laws related to cockfighting. They also voted to execute a settlement agreement with former Oklahoma Employment Security Commission CEO Shelley Zumwalt, who was accused in a 2024 audit of failing to disclose her husband’s employment at a company contracted by her predecessor to replace OESC’s antiquated software system.
The new case against Pittman comes after the four-term legislator agreed to pay $35,000 in fines and reimbursements to her 2020 and 2022 campaigns as part of a settlement in which she admitted to using donor funds to pay personal expenses.
“We’ve noticed some similar inconsistencies in that context in terms of looking at her most recent campaign,” Ethics Commission executive director Lee Ann Bruce Boone said after Thursday’s meeting.
In a statement sent later in the afternoon, Bruce Boone said Pittman had also failed to meet the terms of her previous settlement.
“Specifically, Pittman failed to appropriately tender reimbursement to her campaign fund per the terms of the settlement and provide proof of such reimbursement to the commission. As a result of the breach of the settlement agreement in Case No. 2022-25, other reporting inconsistencies have led the Ethics Commission to further audit Pittman’s reporting associated with recent candidate committees via Complaint C-25-13,” Bruce Boone said. “The commission has expanded its investigation, transitioned the complaint to a formal investigation resulting in Case No. 2025-13 and will proceed with all possible remedies available to the commission in both cases, including enforcement of the settlement agreement in Case No. 2022-25 as prescribed and available under the law.”
Bruce Boone said after the meeting that her agency had yet to file a lawsuit against Pittman in Oklahoma County District Court, even though she had been authorized to do so in June.
Pittman did not respond to a request for comment prior to the publication of this article. In May 2024, she characterized the campaign violations as “a clerical error.” Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna did not file criminal charges related to the diversion of campaign funds for personal use. Meanwhile, Pittman did not respond to a debt-collection lawsuit filed by American Express, resulting in a June default judgment against her for $14,504.55, as well as expended costs of $337.14. Three weeks later, a California-based debt collection company called Midland Credit Management filed a new lawsuit against Pittman to collect less than $10,000, according to court records.
Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission under investigation
Although commissioners voted to “make certain information public” relating to a case involving the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, Bruce Boone provided few details in a statement Thursday afternoon. The item was listed as Case No. 2024-5 on the day’s meeting agenda.
“The Ethics Commission is actively investigating allegations that the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission PAC has violated provisions under Ethics Rule 2, Campaign Finance,” Bruce Boone said in a statement. “At its meeting on Nov. 8, 2024, the Commission determined there was reasonable cause to believe violations of Rule 2 may have occurred and authorized a formal investigation. The Commission has actively been gathering material and information within its authority since that time to determine the relevant facts and allegations that relate to this specific matter and will appropriately take responsible action.”
The Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission PAC‘s most recent contribution and expenditure report was filed Jan. 31 for the fourth quarter of 2024. For 2024, the Ethics Commission filings show the PAC received only $290.89 in contributions from “t-shirt sales,” and it finished the year with an unexplained negative balance of more than $10,000. However, the PAC’s reports filed with the Ethics Commission in 2022 and 2023 show significantly more political activity, including a slate of possible discrepancies. Beyond a slate of reported donations that did not include a contributor name or address, 2023 filings show Gamefowl Commission founder and president Anthony DeVore making 17 donations of various amounts between April 22 and June 25 of that year, along with a series of subsequent refunds stating DeVore had exceeded the contribution limit.
Thursday’s Ethics Commission vote comes after DeVore and OGC co-founder Blake Pearce were filmed by an animal rights advocacy group at an illegal cockfight in the Shady Grove community in McIntosh County. Leaders of the group Animal Wellness Action have called for state, federal and tribal prosecutors to pursue charges against the two men and others engaged in cockfighting in Oklahoma.
Commission votes to settle Shelley Zumwalt complaint
Finally, commissioners voted to move forward with a settlement agreement in Case No. 2024-11, which Bruce Boone said relates to Shelley Zumwalt, a longtime state government employee who resigned as Department of Tourism and Recreation director in September 2024, five months after a state audit alleged a conflict of interest involving her husband working for a company that held a contract with the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Kevin Stitt promoted Zumwalt to lead OESC through a tumultuous period of public turmoil after a spike in unemployment insurance claims crashed the agency’s antiquated software system. At the time Zumwalt was put in charge of the agency, a leading legislator called OESC an “unmitigated disaster.” The agency had already signed a software redevelopment contract with Phase 2 Development — where Zumwalt’s husband was employed on other projects — before Zumwalt became OESC’s CEO, but the 2022 federal single audit released in April 2024 lambasted her for signing annual disclosure affidavits that omitted acknowledgment of her husband’s employment at the company, which continued to receive contract renewals and change orders authorized by Zumwalt.
“Federal law requires that any entity receiving federal grant money must disclose any conflict of interest in writing,” State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd said at the time. “Any person who could possibly benefit from a federal grant cannot be part of the selection, award or contracting of that money.”
Zumwalt, who called Byrd’s audit “misleading” when it was released, said Thursday that she had not signed the Ethics Commission’s proposed settlement agreement yet.
“I want to acknowledge the collaborative efforts of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission and Attorney General’s Office to achieve this outcome,” Zumwalt said in a statement Thursday. “Neither my husband nor I financially benefited from the contracts, and there was no finding by the Ethics Commission of any financial gain.”
Bruce Boone said the settlement agreement would likely be executed sometime in the next week, after which she would release the agreement publicly.
