OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Emails obtained by News 4 indicate Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) Chief Policy Advisor Matt Langston had a business and personal relationship dating back more than a decade with the president of a company OSDE awarded a contract worth tens of thousands of dollars.
As far back as 2011, News 4 uncovered records indicating Langston appeared to have a close enough relationship with the now-President of OSDE contractor Vought Strategies, that he sought to use her as a professional reference when seeking new employment.
News 4 recently reported several Republican state lawmakers, led by State Representative Mark McBride (R-Moore), requested Attorney General Gentner Drummond Investigate Langston’s Employment Status with OSDE, as well as his possible connections with Vought Strategies.
“I mean, the guy’s making 100,000 over $100,000 a year, and there’s no job description for what he’s supposed to do,” McBride told News 4 after having to subpoena State Superintendent Ryan Walters to turn over Langston’s employment records. “The A.G. needs to look into it and see what was there. Is there something there?”
While Langston has worked at OSDE since January 2023, not a lot is known about him.
McBride claims Langston holds a lot of power and influence over OSDE.
“Matt Langston is the puppeteer,” McBride said. “He’s the guy that pulls Ryan Walters’ strings.”
Langston is no stranger to politics. He’s worked as a political consultant for the better part of two decades.
Public records show he owns Texas-based political consulting firm “Engage Right, LLC.”
News 4 has found Langston has a lot of connections with a lot of people in politics—including a woman named Mary Vought.
She’s the president of ‘Vought Strategies.’
News 4 obtained emails between Langston and Vought, sent from both their personal and business accounts, dating back 13 years.
The emails appear to show Langston and Vought did business with each throughout those years.
In a July 2019 email obtained by News 4, Vought appeared to send Langston a link to an op-ed written on his behalf.
In another email eight years earlier—2011—Langston seemed to ask Vought to put in a good word for him with the staff of a Kentucky congressman—with whom he’d apparently had a job interview.
“Do you know of anyone that could drop me a good note,” the email appearing written by Langston to Vought says.
“If you send me the [chief of staff’s] email I’ll drop them a note,” Vought appeared to write in response.
Fast forward to more than a decade. In 2022, here in Oklahoma, Ryan Walters announced he was running for the position of state superintendent.
Records show Walters’ campaign hired Langston’s company—Engage Right—for consulting.
After the November 2022 election – and Walters’ swearing in as state superintendent in January 2023 – Langston became the Chief Policy Advisor for OSDE.
State payroll records show Langston draws at least a six-figure salary from the state annually.
On top of that, Oklahoma Ethics Commission records show Langston’s company, Engage Right, is also still getting paid thousands of dollars every few months by Walters’ campaign for consulting work.
Last fall, OSDE put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking a company to help do public relations work for the department.
The RFP required the winning bidder to be a company that had at least 10 years experience in booking national media appearances.
There was only one company that ended up bidding, and subsequently winning, that contract: Vought Strategies.
For the past six months, Vought Strategies has been helping Ryan Walters book national talk show appearances, writing him op-eds, creating social media content for his accounts, and other activities helping to raise Walters’ national political profile—all on Oklahoma taxpayers’ dime.
“It gives a bad appearance,” said former Assistant Oklahoma Attorney General Tim Gilpin.
Gilpin said—given all the heat already on Langston from lawmakers—the documentation uncovered by News 4 indicating he had an existing business and personal relationship with the President of Vought Strategies is, minimally, not a good look.
“I think most of our politicians try to avoid this like the plague because it is a serious business if the State A.G., County D.A. or the State Auditor Inspector looks into it,” Gilpin said. “You lay yourself open for indictment or investigation or an audit.”
Oklahoma’s Ethics Commission has strict rules governing possible conflicts of interest between state employees and contractors.
Those rules say, if a state employee knows someone they have a previous or existing business relationship with who is entering into a contract with the state, that employee “must disqualify from participation in the matter.”
“I would look at—was there a competitive bidding process, or was it a setup,” Gilpin said. “Who’s being paid what?”
Vought Strategies’ website says the company was founded in 2013—exactly 10 years before OSDE issued the RFP, which required bidders to have 10 years of experience, that it ultimately awarded Vought Strategies.
Gilpin says, while that may be a coincidence, it again raises red flags for him.
“You’re supposed to outline what you’re looking for and catch as many people or entities as you can to bid so you get the best price for the best bang for your buck,” Gilpin said. “Now, I would imagine if a politician or an officeholder made it so narrow that only one group or individual could meet those requirements—that they’d lay themselves open to an investigation or an audit—that it really wasn’t a competitive opening.”
It’s been hard getting direct answers as to what official role Langston played, if any, in awarding Vought Strategies that contract.
News 4 asked OSDE spokesperson Dan Isett the following questions on multiple occasions:
Each time News 4 asked those questions, Isett chose not to answer them.
Isett only told News 4: “the State of Oklahoma has a rigorous RFP system which is following to the letter of the law in all our contracts, including this one.”
News 4 also asked both Langston and Vought individually: did you disclose your business relationship?
Vought never responded. Langston didn’t answer the question, and instead told News 4 all questions would need to be sent to Isett.
With News 4’s findings in mind, Gilpin says—if he still worked at the A.G.’s office—he’d be paying very close attention.
“If you’re hiring an employee for the Department of Education, particularly a high ranking one, then they should disclose any conflicts they have at current or in the recent past,” Gilpin said. “If you’re hiring consultants, really the same thing and you want to make sure that there aren’t any lines crossed because again, you open yourself up to a criminal investigation or a very serious audit.”
