On Friday morning, we received a somewhat cryptic, anonymous email from the Ogle Mole Network claiming they had audio of Mary Failin' T-shirt wearer and Oklahoma Internet star Rico Smith "threatening to sue Connie Johnson." The email, which appeared to come from the Johnson camp, also included a few accusations that I don't feel comfortable publicizing on here.
After a brief email exchange, the Mole sent me the audio and sure enough, there was some dude rambling on about he was going to go sue Connie Johnson and go to the media to expose some of her wrongdoings. I had no clue if it was Rico or not, but the voice seemed to match his photo. Since I was getting all this on Friday and really like to get drunk on the weekends, I figured I'd look into everything on Monday, or better yet, wait until the legitimate media reported it.
Well, my laziness and alcoholism paid off. Word of Rico's lawsuit apparently trickled up to The Oklahoman, and on Sunday, one of their most loyal hatchet men, Rick Green, jumped at the chance to write a critical article about an Oklahoma Democrat running for office.
Via NewsOK.com:
U.S. Senate candidate Connie Johnson has paid her daughter nearly $7,000 from campaign funds while allegedly stiffing a University of Oklahoma student who claims he is owed more than $1,319 for work on her campaign.
Rico Smith, 22, of Moore, alleges in his complaint filed Sept. 25 in Oklahoma County District Court that she failed to pay him $1,319 for work he did with her campaign over the summer.
He describes the debt on his small claims action as “breach of contract/failure to pay.” Smith declined comment on the pending litigation.
Johnson, a Democratic state senator from Oklahoma City, said there have been many changes on her campaign staff.
“We changed staff a couple of times,” she said. “They are young and highly mobile. Many of them have gone on to better jobs.”
In terms of pay disagreements, Johnson said this may have arisen with people who were in voluntary roles. She declined to return multiple calls for further comment.
Her latest campaign spending reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show $74,300 in contributions and $66,838 in expenditures. She is a decided underdog in the campaign to fill the U.S. Senate seat of Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, who is stepping down two years early because of health concerns. She is facing Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, who has raised and spent more than $2 million.
Johnson’s reports show a $250 expenditure to Smith on July 10 for “contract labor.”
Johnson’s reports also show $6,784 in expenditures to her daughter, Annasthaeyzsia Adrienne Samuel, 26, of Oklahoma City. No other staff member is paid nearly as much. The payments are generally described as “payroll expense” and “consulting services.”
Johnson said her daughter is a graphic design graduate of Oklahoma State University. She said her daughter performed graphic design and consulting, saying she had produced a “good-looking logo.” Samuel did not return telephone calls for comment.
Johnson, who has been in office nine years, is considered one of the most liberal Democrats in the state Legislature. She is backing a recreational marijuana initiative, for which signatures are being gathered. The initiative campaign got off to a slow start after the Oklahoma attorney general’s office found the ballot title insufficient and had to rewrite it.
I don't really fault The Oklahoman for this hit piece. I guess we should know when a former staffer / volunteer sues a US Senate candidate for back pay, especially when the candidate pays her daughter $6,500 to design a logo. But if you're looking to show someone how The Oklahoman's political bias impacts and directs their reporting, this article is the perfect example.
For one, it would never had been published if a staffer had sued James Lankford or Jim Inhofe or anyone else The Oklahoman supports. Ask Ed Shadid, they are always out to protect their political allies and go after their perceived enemies.
And two, they totally ignored the 6' 4" elephant in the room. The didn't mention anywhere that Rico Smith, the guy at the center of the lawsuit, is a local Internet celebrity basking in 15 minutes of fame after taking one super funny picture with Mary Fallin. So far, Rico's pic has been the signature moment of the 2014 Oklahoma Gubernatorial campaign. It went viral on Facebook – our write-up alone reached 70,000 people – and even got the mainstream treatment by KOCO Channel 5 and the Tulsa World.
But The Oklahoman, a.k.a. "The State's Most Trusted News," is living in a lala land where the photo doesn't exist. They haven't mentioned it at all. That's not necessarily a bad thing – I think we all kind of wish the local news would stick with covering real news – but it totally contradicts the paper's new media, Buzfeedification mission statement that gets off on plastering all sorts of pointless crap and clickbait on its website each day.
Stuff like this...
So, you're telling me that Knuckle Ring Sushi and Harry Potter rewrites are more interesting or relatable to NewsOK.com and Oklahoman readers than a viral pic of our governor being duped by a guy in a funny t-shirt following a debate? I don't think so. The Oklahoman is simply trying to protect Mary Fallin and keep her in office, and they know that by not reporting or even mentioning a viral photo that immaculately captures the Governor's signature brand of out-of-touch aloofness – and associating the guy in the photo with a lawsuit against a liberal instead – will help do exactly that. Biased, twisted reporting from "The State's Most Trusted News." It's The Oklahoman way.
