In a legal document filed with the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Commissioner Todd Hiett claims fellow Commissioner Bob Anthony is “exerting powers” not granted to him by the Oklahoma Constitution in an effort to influence the Corporation Commission investigation into Hiett’s alleged misbehavior and possible criminal conduct.
Amid Anthony’s calls for him to resign from the regulatory body, Hiett has asked the high court to grant a writ of prohibition against Anthony preventing him from acting outside his constitutional authority as a commissioner and from engaging “in efforts to trample” Hiett’s rights.
Hiett, who allegedly got blackout drunk and groped an energy industry employee at a conference in Minneapolis, filed the paperwork Monday, one day before commissioners met for their weekly meeting. Action has yet to be taken on his request.
However, Hiett’s court filing caused the three-member Oklahoma Corporation Commission to table two lengthy agenda items Tuesday requested by Anthony. The items sought “an independent, thorough transparent investigation” into possible commissioner misconduct since Jan. 12, 2015, the date Hiett first took office on the commission after 12 years of legislative service. Anthony also proposed a requirement that no records be destroyed at the agency relating to Hiett and his behavior.
Commissioners last week hired the prominent law firm of Riggs Abney to conduct an independent investigation into Hiett’s behavior and allegations of misconduct. That decision came after initial uncertainty about the investigative intentions of Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office regarding allegations that Hiett has previously engaged in behavior similar to that reported from the Minnesota conference.
Patricia Franz, general counsel for the OCC, sent a memo Tuesday stating she was concerned if commissioners proceeded with Anthony’s requested agenda items.
“If there is a determination that such an investigation — and any associated legal hold on document destruction — is outside of the power of the commission, the agency discussing these matters and potentially voting on them could be deemed misappropriation/abuse on the part of the agency itself,” she wrote. “The internal investigator we have hired will issue an investigation hold for relevant documents.”
If the Supreme Court rules against Hiett’s writ, then commissioners can take up the agenda items, Franz said.
Melvin Hall, one of two attorneys heading up the Hiett investigation on behalf of Riggs Abney, told commissioners Tuesday that the investigation is actually “a confidential fact finding” endeavor. The probe has not begun, he said.
“It’s my understanding that our organization has entered into an agreement with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to conduct an independent and confidential fact finding, which to me is a little bit different from an investigation, in that the fact finding is set up so that individuals who have information can voluntarily come forward with that information and with the knowledge that they will be comfortable in providing that information,” Hall said. “The information provided will be secure, secure in that confidentiality will be strictly maintained.”
Hall said anyone speaking to him for the Hiett investigation “will be safe.”
“What I mean by ‘safe’ is that they will not be subject to any type of retaliation or reprisal or anything that’s impacting — that will impact them relative to whatever information that they voluntarily decide to bring forward,” Hall said. “I state voluntarily because that’s very important to the fact finding, in that we want anyone coming forward to feel comfortable. And that’s very important, and it can’t be emphasized enough, because if someone does not feel comfortable, safe and secure, then they’re not going to be as forthcoming out of whatever reason, perhaps fear, maybe the thought that their employment situation might be adversely impacted in some way, or the feeling that they might be publicly disclosed and therefore subjected to other questioning.”
Hall also assured commissioners that Riggs Abney has a “very sophisticated conflict-of-interest system” to make sure no one in the prominent law firm presents a conflict with the OCC investigation.
That system may be facing an early test after former Attorney General Mike Turpen, a fellow shareholder at Riggs Abney like Hall, praised Hiett on the most recent episode of FlashPoint, a public affairs TV program he has co-hosted on KFOR for three decades.
“I know Todd Hiett, I like Todd Hiett, I respect Todd Hiett,” Turpen said during the Flash Point episode that aired on Sunday on KFOR-TV. “I have empathy — it’s a strong word, empathy. Empathy for what he’s going through.”
Anthony not bullying investigator, attorney says
Hiett’s petition to the Supreme Court references Anthony filing a case with the OCC in which he claims the unilateral authority to initiate and perform an investigation into alleged Corporation Commission corruption.
Hiett issued a statement saying he is asking the high court to help ensure a fair
investigation.
“I have requested the court’s intervention by asking them to enter a writ of prohibition that would prohibit Commissioner Bob Anthony from taking any further part in attempting to influence the independent investigation or making further public comment or filings
related to it, all of which are designed to taint its outcome,” Hiett said. “I have apologized for my abuse of alcohol, begun treatment, stepped aside as chairman of this Commission, and will continue to cooperate fully with any ongoing personnel investigation being conducted by the appropriate body. But the investigation needs to be fair, free of personal vendettas and follow the law.”
Hiett’s filing claimed Anthony had made demands on the Riggs Abney firm “designed to bully and intimidate their attorneys, and to push the investigation toward his predetermined outcome.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Anthony asked Hall if he had bullied him.
“Was I intimidating you?” Anthony asked.
“No, I have never had that feeling,” Hall said. “I’m fine.”
Anthony continued: “To intimidate the examining law firm, I don’t know who some of your attorneys are.”
Hall responded.
“I don’t think they don’t get intimidated too much,” Hall said.
Corporation Commission investigation ‘driven by the facts’
New Corporation Commission Chairwoman Kim David also asked Hall on Tuesday if any commissioners were applying pressure upon him or on the law firm.
“I want assurances from you to be able to tell people, especially this agency or anyone else that comes forward and wants to talk to you, that you’re not being steered or guided by any of the commissioners or this agency on how you do this investigation,” she said.
Hall said the Riggs Abney firm “is completely independent and autonomous of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.”
“I have the independence and the discretion to proceed as the information indicates how I should proceed,” Hall said. “Whatever findings or reports that are made are going to be made from me in consultation with my colleague (Don Bingham). And we’re not being influenced by any other individual or entity in that regard. And so I have complete confidence that we can do this job independently, confidentially and appropriately.”
Asked what he would do if someone presented information that was criminal in nature, Hall said it would be referred to Drummond’s office.
“We previously established that, No. 1, you know, I’m not a prosecutor, therefore I have zero authority regarding any type of criminal activity of any kind,” Hall said. “But if some information along those lines come to my attention, I know that it is my responsibility to refer that to the attorney general, the Attorney General’s Office, because they have the responsibility. They’ve already indicated that that’s what they will pursue.
During Sunday’s episode of Flash Point, Turpen called Hall “the best employment lawyer in the whole state, I promise you.”
“And he’s over there helping the commission work through all of the facts,” Turpen said. “He’ll be conducting an inquiry internally of employees and that sort of thing. And I guarantee one thing about Melvin Hall: He’ll be driven by the facts, like Dragnet, the TV show.”
‘We’ve got to hold ourselves to a higher standard’
It’s unknown when Hall’s Hiett investigation will be completed or how exactly its findings will be presented.
Last week, David responded to a question from NonDoc about whether she intended for Riggs Abney’s report on Hiett’s behavior to be made public or kept private by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
“I would expect that the report will be released,” David said by text message, noting the report would not include names of potential witnesses or victims. “Because it’s an elected official, he is not protected under the Merit Protection Act.”
Meanwhile, other state officials have expressed concerns in the past week about Hiett’s alleged actions and how they affect the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, as well as the state.
“We’re a cross-section of society, so I’m not surprised that in any body, any organization, you’re going to have people who carry all this baggage from their personal lives into their elected office,” Sen. Adam Pugh (R-Edmond) said during the Flash Point program with Turpen. “But we’ve got to hold ourselves to a higher standard.”
Pugh said Hiett’s initial remarks about the alleged Minnesota incident “didn’t seem to have the seriousness” of the accusations in consideration. He said the allegation “undermines the credibility of all elected officials.”
“It wasn’t just, ‘I have an alcohol problem, and I need help.’ For me, it was the assault,” Pugh said. “I mean, the alcohol problem is one issue, but to get to a point where alcohol or not — now, let’s be clear, it was an accusation. So I want to be fair to Commissioner Hiett that there’s been no trial yet. Just the accusation. The appearance. And now, from the story I’ve heard, it was somebody who does come before the commission regularly. And then I think, there has been some additional stories that have come out. So this is serious.”
Last week, Rep. Justin Humphrey (R-Lane) issued a press release joining Anthony in his call for Hiett to step down from the Corporation Commission.
House Democrats have repeatedly called on Gov. Kevin Stitt to call a special session of the Legislature to begin impeachment proceedings against Hiett.
Stitt, however, has not acted on the request.
“We need to hold ourselves in higher standards,” Stitt told NonDoc last week about Hiett. “I think he’s trying to get the help that he needs, and what it appears is there was a late night of drinking, and inhibitions were inhibited, and so things happen. But if it — and so I’m not condoning that at all. That’s something that happened, and he needs to get help for that.”
Were Hiett to be impeached and removed from office, Stitt would be in a position to appoint someone to complete the six-year term to which Hiett was elected in 2020.
“When you add in the fact that he’s a public official, and there’s a potential conflict of interest there on a regulator, then that’s a different level,” Stitt said. “And so I think that we’ll wait and see what that investigation shows, and then we’ll make some decisions. But it’s disappointing because I think it does cast a little shade on elected officials, and I think Oklahomans want us to have a little bit more — you know, hold ourselves in a higher standard. And so that’s something that they’re going to have to make a decision (on) over there at the Corporation Commission.”
In 2022, a bill authored by David when she was then a state senator, called for “unification” of state law enforcement agencies. The bill proposed a new “Public Integrity Division” that would be granted investigative authority currently unavailable to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Chip Keating, then Oklahoma’s secretary of public safety in Stitt’s Cabinet, supported David’s bill, which was amended in the House and died in a conference committee amid concerns it granted too much power to the governor and undermined the OSBI Commission.
Stitt said it might be time to revisit that concept in 2025 amid concerns that the Corporation Commission had to resort to a private law firm for an investigation into multiple allegations facing Hiett.
“When everybody’s in charge, nobody’s in charge, and you see that across state government when you have 400 different boards and commissions,” Stitt said. “So, when we can consolidate, I’m all for that. Other states, you’ll have 15 people around the governor’s table, and that runs state government. We’re the executive branch, so we should be more in control of all law enforcement, and when they can work together — whether it’s OSBI and OHP and OBN — I do think they need to be together.”
Read Todd Hiett’s brief for a writ of prohibition
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