One day after Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters contradicted the claims of officials investigating reports that nude women appeared on his office screen during a State Board of Education meeting, a second report sent to legislators Wednesday from a third-party vendor offered more insight into the slate of entertainment services accessible on Walters’ TV set, though it said no determination about what happened could be made from the initial review.
Alias Cybersecurity, whose investigators accompanied an Office of Management and Enterprise Services staff and three deputy sheriffs Monday to examine Walters’ TV at the Oklahoma State Department of Education, sent its report (embedded below) to lawmakers. The 32-page document includes an initial evaluation of the TV and connected devices, as well as a series of images and “recommended next steps” for further investigation. However, Alias’ report said the initial examination was “significantly constrained” owing to the TV’s “limited logging functionality.”
During two media appearances Tuesday, Walters called reports that fully nude women appeared on his TV during a July 24 executive session “the nastiest, biggest lie ever lodged in the history of Oklahoma,” while also insinuating that Gov. Kevin Stitt and board members he appointed had colluded in a “political attack.”
During his Tuesday interview with Fox 25, Walters said OMES and the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office had completed their investigation, although both agencies released statements or documents contradicting his claim. To argue that his screen could not possibly have displayed inappropriate material, Walters relied heavily on the notion that the TV set in his office only connected to a cable box.
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“We have a cable TV box back there,” Walters told Fox 25. “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. 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.”
A two-page OMES report sent to legislators later Tuesday showed Walters’ claim about the TV’s streaming capabilities was false.
“The TV had cable access, streaming services, was connected to an empty DVD player and was equipped with a dipole antenna,” the OMES report stated. “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.”
OMES authorized Alias Cybersecurity, a digital forensics firm in Yukon, to conduct an investigation of the television in question. According to the company’s report, which was obtained by NonDoc, Alias investigators examined the physical configuration of the television, documented all connected devices and reviewed internal system settings — such as how “parental control settings for the Samsung TV were turned off, allowing unrestricted content.”
“While the investigation confirmed the presence of various applications and devices capable of displaying streaming or stored media, no definitive artifacts were identified that could conclusively verify whether specific content was — or was not — displayed on the television,” Alias investigators wrote. “The device’s limited logging capabilities and lack of retained viewing or playback history prevented the ability to verify whether specific media had been accessed.”
The investigators also noted the TV has screen-sharing capabilities, like Apple AirPlay, which would allow external devices to cast content to the television. They added that AirPlay requires a code displayed on the TV to be entered into the device when attempting to screen share — an added layer of security.
However, investigators reported that the television did not automatically appear as a casting option on the test phone they used in their examination.
In their examination, Alias investigators found:
- A Cox cable box, Sony DVD player and rabbit ear-style antenna were connected as input sources for the television;
- The cable box’s remote was not functioning properly, and investigators replaced the batteries to restore functionality;
- Parental controls were not enabled on the cable box;
- When the TV was turned on, the most recently viewed channel in Samsung’s TV Plus catalogue was “Movie Hub Action” — Channel 1204 — which airs action movies; and
- When the cable box was turned on, the channel was set to Newsmax.
Before it was relocated to Walters’ office, the TV belonged to former OSDE employee Mendy Hooks, according to the OMES and Alias reports. The TV’s YouTube app, which had most recently been used to watch FOX’s Will Cain Show, listed “Mendy” as the active account. According to her LinkedIn, Hooks worked at OSDE for nearly two years before departing in May to become the vice president of strategic programs for Amira Learning, a reading curriculum developer. Her most recent title at OSDE was chief academic officer. Prior to her time at OSDE, she worked in Memphis-Shelby County Schools in Tennessee for 15 years.
Alias Cybersecurity suggested five next steps to investigate what may have been displayed on the television:
- Interview individuals who were present in the room at the time of the incident;
- Identify any computers, mobile devices or tablets that were in the room or within wireless range of the television;
- Perform a forensic examination of those identified devices, including looking at application logs and casting history;
- Conduct an examination of Hooks’ user account; and
- Conduct an examination of other “relevant user accounts belonging to individuals who were present in the room or within wireless range of the television at the time of the incident.”
As state leaders continue to call for a deeper investigation of the allegations — and appropriate due process for Walters — Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna requested that the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation assist in the ongoing inquiry that OMES had referred to the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.
“DA Behenna has asked the OSBI to coordinate with the Sheriff’s Office to support a complete and well-coordinated investigation,” a press release from Behenna’s office said Wednesday. “The purpose is to determine whether any criminal activity occurred — and, if so, ensure it is addressed through the proper legal process. If no wrongdoing occurred, the investigation will help provide clarity and resolution for all involved.”
Despite Walters’ claims that both OMES and OCSO had completed their investigations, Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson appeared in multiple TV interviews Wednesday morning to deny Walters’ claim.
“The investigation is still going on. We’re very much in the infancy stages of the investigation,” Johnson told News 9. “And you know, when you hear claims like this, I really think that tarnishes the respect and what we have earned as an agency with how we do our business and how we operate professionally. I am not on anyone’s side. I don’t care who supports you, who doesn’t support you. I only want to ensure that the facts are the only thing that are represented at the end.”
Board members refute Walters’ collusion accusation
After Walters questioned whether Stitt had instructed Becky Carson and Ryan Deatherage — the board members who reported seeing naked women on Walters’ TV — to accuse him of such wrongdoing, the pair joined fellow State Board of Education member Michael Tinney for a lengthy News 9 interview Wednesday afternoon to refute Walters’ accusation.
During the interview, Carson said she has “never been asked by the governor to do anything except for serve on this board,” while Deatherage reacted to the accusations Walters lodged Tuesday in real time.
“I was watching it on the monitor in front of me, and I kind of take that personal,” Deatherage said. “I think any normal person would take that personal. I take it as a privilege to serve the citizens of Oklahoma, but more importantly, the 700,000 students that are out there in Oklahoma, and I’m there to serve them. And until the governor actually asks me to step off that board, or some other circumstance, I’m going to stay and serve those children of Oklahoma.”
Carson expressed a desire to continue her work on the board “even amidst all that pain and hurt.”
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“I think I’ve experienced every emotion there is to have about the situation,” Carson told News 9. “From anger to disbelief to shock to hurt that somebody would go this far. But I also will say that, on Friday, when all this came out, I went about doing my business and still continue to work for the state of Oklahoma, ensuring that children are getting the education that they deserve and teachers feel supported — answering emails, talking to superintendents.”
Tinney, who said he could not see the TV from his vantage but that he observed Walters rushing to turn it off after Carson interrupted the meeting, concurred with his fellow board members Wednesday and said Walters’ accusation was “ludicrous.” Clarifying her decision to file the complaint with OMES that was referred to the sheriff, Carson said she believed it was important to have a thorough investigation, especially given the professionalism standard to which OSDE holds Oklahoma teachers.
“At no point have any of us said that he has done anything wrong,” Carson said. “We just reported what we saw and what occurred. (…) I think my main reason (for speaking out) was, one, we’re sitting in an executive meeting where we’re looking at teachers’ revocations — revocations of their certificates — and sometimes for even lesser offenses. And I think accountability is important. And if we’re going to hold teachers accountable — which I absolutely think we should, everybody should be held accountable for their actions — but if we’re going to hold teachers accountable, then we have to put the people that are in leadership accountable as well.”
Read the full Alias Cybersecurity report
