We’d like to give a big TLO “Attagirl” to Oklahoma attorney Cheryl Plaxico!
She’s doing an excellent job racking up billable hours on the Oklahoma taxpayers' dime in various lawsuits that, hopefully, the state has no chance of winning.
It’s quite a comeback story for Cheryl.
Back in 2021, she became involuntarily involved in an Oklahoma scandal after we first reported that her husband – then-Oklahoma AG Mike Hunter – was filing for divorce and making things official with his mistress, Insurance Department attorney Kim Bailey.
The report shocked the Oklahoma legal/political community and was such a bombshell that Hunter resigned 10 minutes after it went live.
Since then, Mike has gone into semi-exile, dabbling in private practice while enjoying his life as an elder newlywed.
Cheryl, on the other hand, has been a woman on a mission, aligning herself with her ex-husband’s primary political adversary – Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt – and representing the state and its public education grifters in a couple of high-profile court cases!
For example, Cheryl is the attorney representing members of the Oklahoma virtual charter school board in their quest to use Oklahoma taxpayer dollars to fund a Catholic private school.
Via KOSU:
Oklahoma’s statewide virtual charter school board voted Monday to hire legal representation from an organization the Southern Poverty Law Center labels as a hate group…
The board voted 3-1 to hire the Alliance Defending Freedom as its national litigation group. ADF’s designation as a hate group stems from, among other things, its defense of state-sanctioned sterilization of transgender people and support of recriminalizing sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ+ adults…
The board also hired Oklahoma City attorney Cheryl Plaxico for local litigation.
That’s great for Cheryl. I bet when she was a 2L in law school, she dreamed about someday being a lead attorney in the quest to tear down that pesky long-standing legal wall that separates the church from the state. She should be so proud!
So, how exactly did Cheryl score this coveted case that would destroy public education as we know it?
The motion to hire ADF and Plaxico came from board member Nellie Sanders, who said she “really felt strongly” about and was “so excited” for her two legal counsel picks.
Well, isn’t that interesting!
In case you have a short memory, Nellie Sanders was recently tagged by Kevin Stitt to be the new Oklahoma Secretary of Education, an honor she earned as a result of her family's unwavering commitment and loyalty to Kevin Stitt…
Yep, Nellie Sanders was excited to hire the ex-wife of one of Kevin Stitt’s primary adversaries to represent her and other school board members in their quest to use taxpayers' money to fund religious schools.
It’s nice to know cronyism is going strong in Oklahoma!
With Cheryl doing such a great job handling a case for the state that we, for the love of America, hopefully have no chance of winning, it’s probably not a surprise that Stitt and Co. also hired her to represent the state in other education-related legal shenanigans.
Earlier this week, Stitt and Co. announced they were, once again, suing ClassWallet to provide cover for Ryan Walters and his grifty interactions with the company.
The lawsuit comes about a year after Attorney General Gentner Drummond flew on the scene in an F15 and dropped a similar lawsuit filed by his predecessor – short-lived AG Johnny-Boy O'Conner – because it “lacked merit.”
Via The Oklahoman:
The state of Oklahoma has once again filed a lawsuit against ClassWallet, the company picked to disburse pandemic-era education funds that now stands accused of breaching its contract.
Gov. Kevin Stitt announced the lawsuit on Tuesday, blaming ClassWallet for its role in misuse of taxpayer dollars during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The lawsuit does not name any state officials as defendants…
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services by Plaxico Law Firm, not by the attorney general's office. ClassWallet has not formally responded in court.
That’s nice!
I believe it was Chief Justice John Marshall who once said “If at first you don’t succeed in a frivolous lawsuit to provide a smokescreen for your embattled state school superintendent, try and try again!”
For what it’s worth, Cheryl is more than qualified to represent the state and, by proxy, Governor Stitt in these lawsuits the state probably doesn't have any chance of winning. From what I’ve heard, she’s a hell of an attorney and good at what she does.
But, you do have to wonder, why – outside of blatant cronyism – would Stitt waste time hiring a good attorney on cases that are long shots at best?
You’d think he’d hire a less competent attorney – like one of the crotch-protecting attorneys who sued the wrong contractor for $60,000,000 – so he’d at least have an excuse when we lose!
But then, again who really cares?
Cheryl was an unintentional victim of scandal and probably deserves both the billable taxpayer dollars, and the chance to stick it to her cheating ex by working with his rival after being drug through the mud.
At the very least, maybe it will help her land Gateway Bank as a client here in a couple of years.
Plus it helps prove true what David Ostrowe – the Stitt cabinet member who was indicted by Mike Hunter over a fast food feud that Ostrow had with Hunter's mistress, only to see Hunter drop the charges once he resigned from office in disgrace – once said about this state: "Only in Oklahoma."
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
