Answering questions for the first time since State Board of Education members reported seeing naked woman displayed on his office television, Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters insisted at a press conference Tuesday that two agencies had concluded investigations with no findings of impropriety. However, the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office responded that its inquiry remains active, and a report sent to legislators by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services contradicted some of Walters’ claims.
After releasing hostile media statements when asked about the incident Friday, Walters tweeted Sunday that he has “no knowledge of what was on the TV screen,” instead categorizing “these falsehoods” as “the desperate tactics of a broken establishment afraid of real change.”
Amid rumors he has been planning to announce a 2026 gubernatorial campaign in August, Walters conducted an interview with Fox 25’s Wendy Suares on Tuesday and called a subsequent press conference in front of Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office. In the full interview posted by Fox 25, Walters claimed he is the victim of “lies” and said board members Becky Carson and Ryan Deatherage — who reported seeing the naked women on screen — “should be resigning immediately.”
“We’ve gone through the entire investigation with both the sheriff’s office and OMES. We’ve checked all of the devices. They have run through everything that they need to determine that that TV has never been connected to these devices,” Walters told Fox 25. “It is cable network TV. They are running with a lie to accuse me of somehow having some inappropriate behavior that they know is false.”
The sheriff’s office issued a statement “to clear up any confusion” after Walters implied its investigation was complete.
“This investigation is still in it’s infancy, so it would be inappropriate to discuss who we plan to speak with or any evidence we are seeking,” the OCSO Facebook post said. “You can, however, expect a thorough investigation with the results being made public at the conclusion.”
With the bizarre scenario drawing national news coverage, Walters also called a Tuesday afternoon press conference to argue that Stitt’s appointed board members and journalists alike would go to any length to “assassinate” his character.
“What we’ve seen transpire over the last five days is the nastiest, biggest lie ever lodged in the history of Oklahoma,” Walters said. “I cannot begin to describe the disgusting nature of the lies leveled against me by board members, by the media and by the teachers. This has been a coordinated attack to crucify my character and to try to stop the will of Oklahomans and their vision for education in the state of Oklahoma.”
During his media appearances Tuesday, Walters insisted the TV in his office only connects to “cable.”
“We have a cable TV box back there. And we have got a gross accusation that has already been proven by OMES and the sheriff’s office, to be impossible to have happened,” Walters told Fox 25. “There’s no devices connected to that cable TV. It’s a cable TV set. We’ve got board members that are lying and are crucifying my character to stop the work we are doing here for Oklahomans.”
That claim was contradicted by a report OMES sent to legislators Tuesday afternoon, one day after an agency employee, three deputy sheriffs and a third-party vendor examined Walters’ TV at OSDE.
“The TV had cable access, streaming services, was connected to an empty DVD player and was equipped with a dipole antenna. The TV was connected to the state’s open WiFi network. A one-time passcode was required to access screen casting to the TV, limiting the number of people with casting ability to the device,” said the OMES report (embedded below). “The TV previously belonged to a former OSDE employee and was relocated to the superintendent’s office earlier this month. The employee’s account was still connected to YouTube TV but under a new IP address.”
While OMES’ document said “the search history on the TV was empty,” it noted the device features “hundreds” of apps that were not searched Monday.
“It is important to note that OMES can only review technology at an agency’s request unless directed by the Legislature, law enforcement, or court system. Additionally, OMES cannot review other state or personal devices without permission from that agency and/or individuals,” the agency’s report to lawmakers said. “Additionally, OMES has also been informed that the superintendent’s office uses hot spots to connect devices during board meetings; however, this has not been independently verified. OMES is only able to monitor state networks.”
The OMES report said an OSDE board member asked to file a formal complaint about Walters over the TV situation to “request that his computers, personal devices and cell phones used by him at his office using government resources be preserved to ensure any pornography be preserved.”
House speaker: Walters ‘innocent until proven guilty’
Only three people are known to have observed whatever was on the TV screen during Thursday’s executive session, and Walters has declined to say what he saw.
Board members Ryan Deatherage and Becky Carson described what they observed to NonDoc and The Oklahoman on Friday, with Deatherage saying he had seen nude women on screen for a while but had been unsure how to interrupt the board’s discussion involving a parent and a school superintendent. Carson, who asked Walters to turn the TV off when she realized it was displaying women’s “nipples” and “pubic hair,” said the footage was “retro” in nature. Deatherage said it reminded him of M*A*S*H or Gilligan’s Island, but with nudity.
Walters insisted Tuesday that Carson, Deatherage and media members who reported their claims have lied about what happened, but he remained vague about what transpired and avoided identifying the “lies” at hand.
“My family has watched as board members stopped at nothing to stop education reform in the state of Oklahoma,” Walters said during his press conference. “These board members have a lot to answer for, and so does the governor of the state of Oklahoma. Did he direct these board members to lie about me? Did he direct his board members to go in and disrupt everything in these board meetings? Did he have the board fight against bringing private schools into the state for families? That’s school choice. What exact directives were they given? We have had our name cleared by both of them, yes, and the sheriff’s office. There is nothing scandalous that I was a part of whatsoever, and the lies will have consequences.”
But the OMES report indicated that conclusions had not been reached.
“We are currently awaiting further word from the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office,” the OMES report stated. “At this time, we cannot determine definitively whether or not an incident took place.”
Suares of FOX 25 reported that Stitt’s office released a statement late Tuesday from Carson, Deatherage and fellow State Board of Education member Michael Tinney.
“As volunteer board members, we have sacrificed our time to advocate for the students of Oklahoma,” the statement said. “We all want the best education for our students, not inflamed political rhetoric. No board member has accused Superintendent Walters of anything, we only brought attention to inappropriate content on a TV — content that would cause a teacher in our state to lose their license. As the investigation continues, we urge superintendent Walters to cooperate with law enforcement and refrain from smearing the names, characters and reputations of board members.”
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Multiple Oklahoma legislators joined media members in the “peanut gallery” of Walters’ press conference hoping to hear a response to their unanswered questions. Among them was Rep. Forrest Bennett (D-OKC), who tried to ask Walters about the state’s national education ranking — which WalletHub recently downgraded from 47th to 50th — as the superintendent retreated down a hallway. Bennett said Walters ultimately ignored his question and instead complimented him on his hair.
Rep. Andy Fugate (D-OKC) also attended Tuesday’s presser and left displeased with Walters’ response.
“To summarize the superintendent’s remarks, the governor is now woke and part of the cabal working to take Ryan down,” Fugate said. “At the same time, Oklahoma is now ranked 50th in education.”
Also on Tuesday, Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle) responded to Walters’ claims through spokesman Alex Gerszewski, who said senators were reviewing OMES’ report.
“After discussions this afternoon with OMES and the sheriff’s office, we understand the investigation remains ongoing,” Gerszewski said. “We believe Superintendent Walters is entitled to due process as this inquiry continues. It’s important that he, along with members of the board, are given a fair opportunity to explain their account of what took place.”
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) released a similar statement Tuesday afternoon.
“From the start, I have stated the need for a transparent third-party review of this situation. Regardless of one’s thoughts on the state superintendent, he deserves to be treated as innocent until proven guilty, the same as anyone in this situation,” Hilbert said. “As speaker of the House, my desire is to let the independent investigation play out and where ever that investigation leads, the House stands ready to take appropriate action, if any is needed.”
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Van Denhende: ‘Something clearly was on that TV’
On Friday, Deatherage suggested that the State Board of Education should hold a special meeting to review what happened and consider pulling the teaching certificate of Walters in a manner similar to how Walters has pushed for discipline for educators accused of misconduct.
The July 24 meeting featured only five of the board’s seven members: Walters, Deatherage, Carson, Tinney and Chris Van Denhende. Members Sarah Lepak and Zachary Archer were absent.
As the reports from Carson and Deatherage broke Friday, Tinney told NonDoc that “if [Walters] is calling them liars, I can certainly vouch for the story.”
While Tinney said his position around the table prevented him from seeing what was on Walters’ TV screen, he affirmed what Carson and Deatherage said about how the confrontation over its content.
“I can’t see what was inside their eyeballs, but I can certainly say that at the meeting, Becky said, ‘There’s naked people on the screen,’ and Ryan Walters quickly turned around, went back there and did something and got it off the screen,” Tinney said. “That much I know. I don’t know what they saw, other than she said, ‘There are naked people.’ And then, of course, Deatherage said the same thing. He told me later that he’d seen it for quite a while and said, ‘I really didn’t know how to interrupt the meeting and point it out.'”
Van Denhende offered a similar assessment to KFOR.
“All I can say is having been in the room, not seeing what was on the TV, but seeing the reactions to Becky Carson primarily, and Ryan Walters’ reaction to what he saw when he spun around and saw the TV,” Van Denhende said. “Something clearly was on that TV that shouldn’t have been on that TV. Why it was on, I don’t know.”
Read the OMES on Ryan Walters’ TV sent to legislators
