Legislative Members in Leadership can Sexually Harass at Will, Credible Investigations Will Not Occur.
Late last week we saw a disgusting thing happen at the Capitol. A tabloid blogger, the same label leveled against the Sooner Tea Party newsletter writers, with House leadership's help was able to break the story of Chelsea Smith's investigation into the Rep. Chris Kannady/Kevin McDugle sexual battery/sexual harassment scandal finding of “unable to substantiate”. Other news sources, and only two covered the story, received the statement much later than the online blogger Nondoc.com, AKA Trey Savage.
In return Savage appears to have written a hatchet job of an article, with about half of the space given to the two accused men's tirades against being held accountable at the Capitol, including numerous unsubstantiated accusations against the writer that exposed the sexual battery/sexual harassment incidents. Not only that, but Savage neglected to mention that he knew that the second victim's story was credible and had facts to prove it.
The story from Nondoc.com claims that a STP writer made the allegations of inappropriate actions, when in fact it was the victim that made the accusations. Savage was well aware of this as he had been sent four audio clips of the victim telling of the assaults. Savage mentioned the audio clips and linked to them as well as admitted that the victim, a former House member, had lodged a formal complaint with the House of Representatives.
Savage provided the statement that Smith had sent to him:
“All parties were cooperative with the investigation,” Smith wrote. “Ultimately, the details provided by the complainant diverged significantly from those provided by the accused and witnesses. The accused and witnesses maintain that no video was ever shown to the complaining party (who was a colleague and peer at the time) and that they were not aware of anyone touching anyone’s leg. There were no other first-hand witnesses to this incident, which allegedly occurred more than two years ago at a private, off-site, social gathering. Under the circumstances, the investigator was unable to substantiate the allegations of wrongdoing by any member.”
There were many troubling statements in the Nondoc.com story. Here is one of them:
“We’ve been to Nic’s so many times,” McDugle said. “I don’t remember her being at Nic’s or doing anything at Nic’s.”
The main problems with this is that of course the four accused/witnesses would have a different account, three of the four corroborating witnesses were never interviewed, no credit card or debit card records were reviewed for that date, and time to prove that the four men were telling the truth, and the investigation was not turned over to the very committee that had been formed to handle this scandal but instead handed over first to a tabloid blogger. Proving that McDugle was lying about the victim ever being with them at Nic's is so easy to do yet it was not done.
Okay, four men with much to lose, including one, Fetgatter, that either joked about being responsible for it happening or admitted about being responsible for it happening on a hot mic have stories that diverged from the victim. Imagine that....sarcasm alert. Both Kannady and McDugle deny ever being at Nic's diner with the victim. That alone is easily proven or disproved with credit card receipts from all four men that were present or from the victim's own credit card receipt for the drink that she bought.
Fetgatter admitted that he always sat on a chair outside the big round booth as he was claustrophobic. That alone tells you not only was Fetgatter visiting Nic's Diner but that he verified what the victim claimed, that she was trapped in a booth with large men behaving badly on both sides.
As for “first-hand witnesses” there might have been more had their been a proper investigation done. There were four corroborating witnesses that were told of the sexual harassment the night that the sexual harassment occurred. One was a lobbyist, one was another lawmaker, one was the victim's best female friend, the other was the husband of the victim, referenced in the tape when the victim said “I went home and cried about it to my husband.” Of the four corroborating witnesses, one, the legislator was interviewed very briefly.
Now in the Kavanaugh case we asked, and rightly so, why the victim couldn't remember who was present, where the attack took place, what she was wearing, how she got home, and why no one was told of the attack at the time of it happening.Here you have a victim with near total recall, with four corroborating witnesses told of the sexual battery/sexual harassment the night it happened. The victim knew the name of the video and the names of the porn star actresses, saying it was burned into her memory because the video was so horribly disgusting. The video involved two blonds defecating into each other's mouths and Smith obtained a copy of the video and the accused, the victim, and the two “witnesses”, Kevin Wallace and Scott Fetgatter were required to watch the video.
Not only that but remember back to the Dan Kirby/Fourkiller scandal of sexual harassment, then investigator Courtney Warmington took the report straight to the committee that had been formed to investigate, led by Reps. Josh Cockcroft and Kevin West. As opposed to sending the report outcome to a tabloid blogger facilitated by House leadership, AKA Chris Kannaday and Jon Echols? In the Kirby case the committee decided what the investigation proved and grilled the witnesses versus taking statements. The very question of if the five members were present at Nic's Diner that night could have been proven with credit card statements or bank statements covering that night. We know the committee was formed including a roster of who was chosen. An example, Emily Virgin, the Democrat minority leader, was discussed but not chosen due to personal hatred of the victim.
The bulk of the story that Savage wrote was left to McDugle and Kannady attacking the source of the exposure of the allegations. McDugle, who had dodged the press for weeks, and Kannady who had given a single response to the Tulsa World attacking the source and referred all other reporters to that statement, were allowed to actually sit down with Trey Savage.
Kannady focused first on the STP newsletter's snarky articles that include riffing on legislator's appearances and misdeeds, calling it ironic that STP became a champion for women's rights. Of course we ridicule the worst men and women that exhibit their corruption against the common good and the people of Oklahoma. It is one of the few things they are afraid of. And well, coming from a man that has three quite specific sexual battery/sexual assault accusations against him that is quite a stretch. We are saying three and not four because the one Facebook accuser turned out not to have a credible case against Kannady but appears to have been referring to the other three cases.
McDugle for his part admitted that STP was a supporter of his at the very beginning but claimed that we became “pissed off” when he started voting for tax increases and over raising the statute of limitations on sexual abuse to 45 years of age. And that Gerhart made threats via phone call in either September or October of 2017.
“He called and said, ‘McDugle, if you vote for another tax, I’m going to come after you personally.’ He said, ‘You voted for every tax. You went in as a no-tax guy, and now here you are voting for taxes. I’m going to come after you personally.’ And he did. And every article he wrote — I don’t know how many there are out there — he will take a little seed of truth and expand it into something that was never meant to be.”
Which of course is a bald faced lie that I refuted with facts when asked about it by Savage before he released the article. Savage also just had to include the 2013 blackmail charges despite the courts finding that no blackmail occurred, that it was political persecution for protected 1st Amendment protected speech. That little detail alone tells you that this was a hatchet job.
Indeed STP supported McDugle in his 2011 Senate race but we sat out his 2015 House race. Because we knew about his name being found in the AshleyMadison.com data dump along with his home address, card info, and profile details. We even discussed warning McDugle that he had been exposed but didn't because we knew he would already knew that. At that time, we considered what McDugle had claimed about the divorces, soldier fighting a war overseas, lonely wife cheating, causing multiple divorces. We had stretched so far to theorize that perhaps he was searching for his cheating wives on the affair website.
But the accusations had us needing to prove the time line and we went back through emails, phone call records, and newsletters to find out exactly when and where we broke from McDugle and accepted the fact that he was a real dirt bag. Here is the only email or contact other than a single phone conversation that David Van of Sooner Politics referenced that McDugle and STP had over the statute of limitations bill:
Al Gerhart To: Kevin Mcdugle Cc: David Van
Mar 19, 2017 at 5:42 PM
Kevin, David Van laid things out nicely in this article link below which I am going to ask if I can republish it tonight in our STP newsletter. I hope I can add to the story that you have had some better ideas on how to accomplish your goal If I were you I'd seriously think through the idea and come up with an alternative that would focus on being able to hold law enforcement, social workers, and even mental health workers liable for refusing to act or being negligent in an investigation. Now you would be doing some good and if anyone needs to be nervous it is those charged with the responsibility and not fulfilling it. But even they can't be subjected to such a long statute of limitations.There was a rash of these false memory accusations ten to fifteen years ago. Like I said on the phone, I lived with a young woman for over 8 1/2 years that had convinced herself that something had happened and she couldn't say what it was or when it supposedly happened, she just "felt" that she was damaged so therefore her father had done something.I was around her dad for about two weeks on one occasion, spent hours with him and their grand kids. I can tell you that the guy wasn't a pervert and was a thoroughly decent man. But you would never convince my ex girlfriend that it was all in her mind. I can tell you that she was a freaking pervert herself in the sack and that might have been because of something that happened in her past but it was most likely just her nature. Lucky me....I guess.There are three reasons why we have statutes of limitations:An alleged victim legally has the responsibility to pursue a case in a reasonable amount of time. These days you can't swing a dead cat without seeing something about sexual abuse or child abuse so if the kids aren't unaware they can get help then something is wrong. In our generations, not so much. But things have changed Kevin, it isn't the same world you and I grew up in and that is good.Second, the defendant has to have a reasonable chance to put on a good defense and NO one could do that thirty years after something was alleged to have happened. Witness would have died, memory of any particular year much less day or event would have faded from reliable memory long ago.Third, dragging up a criminal or civil case from decades before is simply cruel and irresponsible absent solid proof.. Who could ever relax knowing that some wacko could make a false memory claim and attempt to prosecute you for something that never happened. Then once the accusation is made that person's reputation is ruined for all time.Here are the current limitations and they are fine. They are two years, five years, even 12 years, and even no limit if DNA can prove the case:Civil Statute of Limitations Two Year Statute of Limitations for Childhood Sexual Abuse Claims : Child sexual abuse victims have two years after the last incident of abuse that caused the injuries to file their claims.Delayed Tolling for Minors : Generally, persons under 18 years of age may bring their cause of action within two years after reaching the age of majority. Or, alternatively, if the abuser is in a state, federal or local correctional facility or jail, the victim has five years from their release to file their claim. The statute of limitations will begin to run at whichever date is later.Twenty Year Statute of Limitations for Claims Against Incarcerated Abusers : Victims may file claims against at any time during the incarceration of the offender for injuries caused by criminal actions, but any action against an incarcerated abuser must be commenced within twenty years of the victim turning 18.Discovery/”Should Have Discovered” Rule: Two-Year extension : Victims alternatively have two years from the “time the victim discovered or reasonably should have discovered that the injury or condition was caused by the act or that the act caused the injury for which the claim is brought.”Criminal Statute of Limitations Twelve-Year Statute of Limitations for Felony Sexual Offenses; All Others Three Years : A 12-year statute of limitations exists for sexual offenses against minors that are classified as felonies after discovery of the offense. Discovery means the date that the crime against a minor was reported, or one year after the victim turns 18. For all other offenses, there is a three-year statute of limitations after the date of the offense.DNA Evidence Exception : A prosecution against these offenses may be brought any time after the offense as long as the victim reported the abuse with in 12 years after discovery, physical evidence which can provide a DNA sample was collected, and the abuser can be identified by this DNA. The prosecution must be commenced within three years from the date on which the identity of the suspect is established by DNA testing.
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Now no one other than McDugle would claim that is a “pissed off” response. McDugle did call David Van screaming at him over the article, a typical response from McDugle over criticism.
Later that session, around the end of April or middle of May in 2017, the McDugle divorce scandal erupted. One phone call occurred between STP and McDugle, over the pending break up and divorce. The local activists and Party officials in Wagoner County were siding with his soon to be ex wife, claiming that McDugle had abandoned her penniless. During our phone conversation the subject of his voting record came up and McDugle was indeed warned that his voting record would make him vulnerable.
McDugle's response was that he needed to become part of leadership before he would be powerful enough to stop some of the tax increases and get the conservative legislation passed. Our response was that he wouldn't be in office to get anything done if he didn't clean up his voting record and personal life. The phone call was not strident or angry in any way as later emails showing support proved.
Fast forward to June 2017, months after Fallin had signed the statute of limitations bill and all of McDugle's tax votes had been cast. You will find STP still supporting McDugle, holding up stories and resisting the rising tide of local Wagoner County activists and officials turning against McDugle. Here are the email exchanges:
Kevin McDugle
Attachments Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 2:21 PM, to me
Al, I gave her $9,500 cash and on top of that she received the following withdraws.Regards,Kevin W. McDugle CEO eXpect3 Marketing www.eXpect3.com 918.379.94003 Attachments
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Sooner Tea Party
Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 2:48 PM
to Kevin
Well that blows her story of being destitute out of the water. Signature should match up with her signature on the divorce petition.
Lets talk again after next Friday.
Thanks
Al
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kevin@lawyermarketingusa.com
Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 2:59 PM - to me
I hope you are asking yourself what else she is lying about. Now you will have an answer for the church people that think I left them high and dry.
Kevin W. McDugle
Lawyer Marketing Services, Inc.
www.lawyermarketingusa.com 918.409.2101 phone 866.332.5151 fax
Sooner Tea Party
Jul 19, 2017, 3:18 PM
to Kevin
I do indeed. Talked to one of them a few minutes ago.
You know, the best thing in deals like this is to own it ASAP. Something for you to think about if you are planning on remaining in politics. Get your side out there, the worst scenario is letting the rumor mill run wild.
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kevin@lawyermarketingusa.com Jul 19, 2017, 3:42 PM, to me
I was following attorney orders is the only reason I have been quiet!
Kevin McDugle AttachmentsJul 19, 2017, 3:58 PM to me
Al, Here are some Facebook post she posted about me being a great husband and father even after she knew I was asking for divorce. Once I told her to have her attorney call mine she turned vindictive and began making allegations that were completely false. I will also send you via text the article she had written in a local magazine. I was interviewed and nothing I said in the interview was put in the article. I was also suppose to proof it but did not get to proof it as she told the writer she could give the approval. I was pretty upset that it ran the way it did. The things she says in the article are the same things she articulated on May 3rd at my surprise birthday party. All of that is on video. She did all of this knowing I wanted a divorce.
Sooner Tea Party
Jul 19, 2017, 9:15 PM
to Kevin
Okay, a lot to go through here but I will later this week.
To answer your text, the allegations from the church folk pretty much mirrored what was in the divorce petition. Seemed to focus on the two adopted boys as it was about visitations and the kids coming back upset. I assumed that the other, older kids wouldn't be visiting so maybe I assumed too much.
I got in touch with two of the three people that were urging on the story. Didn't want to piss anyone off or break communication but I did mention that I had proof that the woman wasn't destitute like the people thought, the 20K surprised them.
That info will percolate back I am sure. There are supporters in the church, a couple were mentioned, just get a statement out as soon as the hearing is over.
Sooner Tea Party
Jul 23, 2017, 8:15 AM
to Kevin
People are going to take one of two things out of all of this, she is unstable or really, really, trying to salvage the marriage. Not sure if anyone could sway many from one group over to the other side.
The Lost Ogle treated you fairly kindly so responding worked in your favor there. We are going to link to that story as they did a pretty good story and ended up calling it a he said she said kind of thing.
Let's talk next weekend after you get past the Friday hearing, before we do a story on this. You are certainly going to get primaried this time, over your voting record, and frankly you need to be reminded of why you were sent there. It wasn't to climb the leadership ladder. Still you have the right ideological ideas if you can get back on track but this divorce and the allegations are going to be plastered all over the mailings in 2018.
Kevin McDugle Fri, Jul 28, 2017, 8:14 AM to me
Al,I wanted to let you know that they postponed the court date because the judge is sick. They have not given me the new date yet.
Regards, Kevin W. McDugle CEOeXpect3 Marketing
www.eXpect3.com 918.379.9400
So there you have it, three months after the tax votes and statute of limitations on sexual abuse bill was passed and McDugle and STP were getting along fine with STP expressing confidence in his ideological character but also warning that he needed to deal with the scandal and get out in front of it if he was to survive. At that point we were defending the guy, propping him up, sending the info on to other local Wagoner County activist and elected officials and party officials trying to call for calm and waiting to see how things actually turned out. At that time we had received emails, messages, and phone calls from local Wagoner County church members and we were trying to moderate. Later, very late in the year and into the January, we learned more and more till we were talking to some of the soon to be ex wife's friends and eventually talking to the ex wife herself but that was into late session 2018.
No anger over anything, just support including running one very fair story that represented both sides of the issues. This proves that Rep. Kevin McDugle lied to Savage and Savage didn't bother to fact check nor would he ask for emails, phone records, or anything to back up McDugle's wild accusations.
Next up, Savage accepts McDugle's porn addiction problem without question:
“I can tell you this: I’ve never played porn at a freaking bar or club or anything, so that’s totally ridiculous. So I don’t know what they’re talking about there,” said McDugle, who added that he has never shown anyone such videos. “I think it’s stupid or crazy to flop out a phone and show anyone porn in public.”
In fact, Savage is a regular reader of our Sunday night newsletter, he posts links to them in his article. Sooner Politic's David Van and I both covered the McDugle divorce hearing in August of 2018 and reported on the insane amount of sexual addiction and porn addiction that McDugle admitted to. McDugle himself claimed that he was “pure” 95% of the time, leaving 1.2 hours a day for porn or sex addict behavior. The exhibits and testimony at the trial were horrendously embarrassing for both McDugle and his soon to be ex wife but they needed to be exposed.
And for some odd reason, Savage included two voice mail messages that I had left on Dustin Robert's phone. A lot of legislators at the Capitol are sources, some that would make your head spin, I always tell people to look at who we rarely go after and one of those would be Dustin Roberts. You hit them once, they squeal like pigs and reach out and offer explanations and information trying to become a friend of STP.
I always get Dustin and Sean mixed up on their first names, in fact, Sean Roberts and I rarely spoke, maybe a few times since he was elected and we did go after him on more than one occasion I might add. Now after the August 2018 purge orchestrated by Kannady we have reached out to the remaining conservatives, few that they be.
So how is me giving Dustin Roberts info on the New York Times reporter calling me and being in town for a story indicative of any sort of wrongdoing? What it is can be seen clearly, Kannady and McDugle going after one of the few remaining conservative legislators..... and my wanting to discuss the HR complaint with Dustin Roberts tells something that they are trying to deflect.
The hatchet job article winds up with an attack on former Rep. Mike Ritze over the honorary DAV membership that he had been given for his work with DAV members needing medical help to obtain benefits. Ritze served as an Army doctor for about six years, had in his possession a wallet card from the DAV that he was a member in good standing, and a wall certificate, one very recent, mailed to him a not too long before the scandal was concocted by Reps. Josh West, Kevin McDugle, and Chris Kannady. The national DAV didn't agree with the local DAV that had awarded Ritze membership and Ritz was attacked for wearing a DAV cap that had a DAV supporter pin on it.
Despite Savage knowing all of these details none were mentioned in defense, the article reads as if it was a paid hit piece against STP and a defense of two poor unjustly accused elected officials.
Looking back the next few days after the hit piece article we found exactly when STP turned on Rep. Kevin McDugle, February 11th 2018, seven months after McDugle claimed I had called making threats. Kannady was attacked for good cause for what we can find the first time as well.
Like McDugle, we supported Kannady in his first election, endorsed him at the behest of a local activist in his district. That same supporter, a retired Ok County deputy, kept us up with Chris Kannady for several years by arranging breakfast meetings at Jimmy's Egg over on South Walker. Kannady was like Jon Echols, horrible voting record but we got along other than publishing their horrible voting record in our annual index, simply because they were the two men that put Speaker Charles McCall in office and were in fact his puppet masters at the Capitol.
On the first breakfast meeting, right after his November 2014 election, Kannady offered help with the STP blackmail decision, offering to run an expungement when the time was right. The offer was declined, an appeal was already filed and we knew we would win at some point in the appeals process.
The second meeting was around the summer 2016, the voter guide had came out and Kannady was lobbying STP to support Charles McCall for Speaker after much earlier opposition by STP against McCall for trying to purchase the position. Kannady was confident as they were supporting quite a few candidates for the House, trying to build their numbers for the Speaker race. McCall got the preliminary speaker designate vote on May 2nd of 2016 but the final confirmation vote was in January of 2017. Kannady requested a meeting between McCall and STP, which was turned down as we knew that Echols and Kannady were the puppet masters of McCall, no need to waste time on a meeting. Kannady's voting record was brought up as well, causing Kannady's lower lip to tremble like a six year old along with the rapid blinking back of tears. After being turned down for the meeting Kannady was fearing that STP would turn against him for his voting record.
The third and final meeting set up between STP and Kannady was after the November 2016 election. Earlier in the year at our meeting Kannady had boasted of the strong hand that would rule the House of Representatives, referring more to his iron fist than anything else, yet after the election they hadn't brought in as many supporters so Kannady admitted that the Speaker final election was still in question in January. McCall was more conciliatory at that point. Later in 2017 STP had given up completely on Chris Kannady and started exposing his corruption. McDugle carried around a 40 point index score, Kannady was in the single digits by that point.
So were Kannady and McDugle targeted by STP? Of course, starting in 2017 for Kannady but early in 2018 for McDugle. For good reason. Not for hate. So we ask the question:
Should sexual battery and sexual harassment be swept under the rug just because the group that exposes the crimes doesn't like the accused?
Of course not, saying that is merely deflecting.
To the media's credit only three organizations have published the story of the special counsel investigation ending and not finding it “substantiated”. Nondoc.com, a Purcell newspaper, and the Tulsa World.
The Tulsa World did a good job we must say. The reporter limited the finding to the one case out of four at the time (we believe there are only three at this writing). The writer did miss the fact that Rep. Kevin Wallace was also present at the sexual battery/sexual harassment attack. And rightly so the article covered the disagreements STP has with Kannady and McDugle over policy and their efforts and successes on removing conservative legislators.
More importantly the article mentioned that STP believes the investigation was a Kangaroo court and that politics was the motivation for the exposure including one quote from STP and Gerhart:
“It’s not only a matter of politics,” he said. “It’s also character. Does it mean something gets swept under the rug because it involves somebody I do not like?
Conspicuously missing from the Nondoc.com story was the fact that Savage knew of the second victim story's source, the Mayor of Newkirk, OK (Brian Hobbs). Savage not only knew, Savage had interviewed Hobbs and the Mayor had forwarded Savage screen shots of the second victim's husband discussing the situation, proof that the attack happened.
Coupled with the huge amounts of quotes from McDugle and Kannady attacking the group that exposed the sexual battery/sexual assault/sexual harassment cases some have decided that Nondoc.com has a dog in the fight and is not credible on this story for reasons unknown.
Other than those three, few other media outlets have mentioned the developments, no doubt they realize the seriousness of the scandal and the damage it will do to sexual assaults and sexual harassment victims at the Capitol and across the state if the matter is whitewashed.
