WATCH: Investigation Uncovers Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Secret Plans to Build “Lavish” Multi-Million-Dollar Governor’s Mansion
GOP State Rep: “Who’s donating, and what are they getting kickbacks on? I guarantee they are … This is self-enrichment and self-dealing, and it’s very worrying.”
A shocking new investigation by Oklahoma’s News 4 has uncovered that Gov. Kevin Stitt has been lying about living in the historic governor’s mansion while secretly raising “un-trackable, private money solicited from wealthy individuals” to build a new, “lavish” $6.5 million mansion.
Watch the News 4 coverage here.
In the meantime, Gov. Stitt has been living in an 8-acre, 2.7 million-dollar estate 20 miles away at Oak Tree Golf and Country Club.
Last year, the state spent millions renovating the governor’s mansion — “2 million dollars in taxpayer money poured into a home where our governor does not live.” In fact, News 4 found evidence that Gov. Stitt planned to build the new mansion before he even moved into the old one and despite pushback from former first families.
“Who’s donating, and what are they getting kickbacks on?” said Republican State Rep. Logan Phillips. “This is self-enrichment and self-dealing, and it’s very worrying.”
In total, a dozen Republican lawmakers said they were unaware of the plans, and all but one refused to comment on the record, saying they fear retaliation from Gov. Stitt.
Though Gov. Stitt’s team insists the plan wasn’t secret, his press secretary and the first lady’s chief of staff both claimed to be unaware of the plan, minutes from one meeting reminded board members to keep the project confidential, and the executive director asked board members to sign an NDA.
“That is absolutely insane,” said Republican State Rep. Phillips. “It just shows exactly how out of touch this governor is with the current situation in Oklahoma. We have schools that are held to a 0% increase. He does not like transparency, and now he’s gonna build a mansion because the mansion’s not fancy enough for him.”
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