Good news! Taxpayers didn’t pay for Walters’s sad CPAC trip!

Last week, we documented the sad, pathetic, and hysterically desperate quest by Oklahoma State School Superintendent Ryan Walters to be added as a last-minute speaker, panelist, agitator, troll, fluffer, etc., at the big CPAC conference in Washington DC. 

Despite the conference featuring discussion topics that Ryan’s uniquely qualified for – like the “Education For Dummies” roundtable – his attempt was unsuccessful.

In addition to spamming event organizers to score a profile-boosting speaking gig at the conference, Ryan also tried his best to get the Oklahoma taxpayers to pay for it. 

Fortunately, it looks like Ryan’s attempt was unsuccessful in that regard, too. 

After Catherine Huckabee with OMES explained that “attending the event just to be there” would be a “questionable” expense, it looks like Ryan sucked things up and billed it to his 2022 campaign instead. We know this because…

1. The state sent our Open Records Mole the following email:

2. Ryan logged these campaign expenses in a recent ethics report filing. As a result, we know he spent over $1,600 on airfare and lodging: 

First of all, as an Oklahoma taxpayer, I guess it’s cool to see that Ryan failed in his attempt to put a trip that served no benefit for the state and was obviously for personal gain on the state credit card. 

As a result, we’re proud to name Catherine Huckabee in the OMES Comptroller’s Office our TLO State Employee of the Month! As a reward, we will send her a $25 gift card to Harbor Mountain Coffee House in McAlester and a 10% off coupon – a $99 value – the Oklahoma Edupranuer Academy!

All that being said, I’m still disappointed in Ryan. 

According to his expense report, the dude has $40,000 left over from his 2022 campaign for State School Superintendant… and he stayed at the D.C. airport Double Tree? 

If you want to be a big-time conservative celebrity, you need to learn how to live and act like one! Use the extra cash to book a suite at a nice spot near the conference, call Roger Stone and some strippers, buy a ton of booze and blow, and throw an epic party! That’s what I would have done, which reminds me why I should never run for public office. 

Anyway, I think I’m going to wrap this up and hop on Trip Advisor to see if Ryan left any reviews for the DC airport Double Tree. I'm sure there's probably one on there that blames the stale waffles at the continental breakfast on Joe Biden and liberal left-wing indoctrinators. 

Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.