by Dave Levinthal, Oklahoma Watch
August 15, 2025

For the second time in two weeks, Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin has disclosed trades showing that he violated a federal conflicts of interest and financial transparency law.

A NOTUS analysis of a financial document Mullin filed Tuesday with the U.S. Senate revealed the Oklahoma lawmaker was months late disclosing nearly three dozen stock and bond transactions by him and his wife.

Taken together, the transactions — mostly sales — are worth between $1.4 million and $3.5 million. Lawmakers are only required to disclose the value of their trades in broad ranges.

The late disclosures follow an earlier slate of hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of tardy stock and municipal security filings — some up to two-and-a-half years past a 45-day deadline enshrined in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act — that Oklahoma Watch reported Aug. 5.

As it did last month, Mullin’s office declined to answer specific questions about the late filings and emailed Oklahoma Watch the same statement about the senator’s finances.

“Much like tax returns, financial disclosures occasionally need to be amended to reflect the most accurate, up-to-date information,” said a Mullin spokesperson. “That’s what we did here.”

Mullin uses an independent, third-party operator firm that manages all stock portfolio investments on his behalf. He does not conduct nor inform trades. The independent firm reports bi-weekly to Senate Ethics to ensure compliance with federal law, the spokesperson added.

Dozens of other federal lawmakers — Democrats and Republicans alike — have violated the STOCK Act’s disclosure provisions in recent years. The latest example — Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar — told NOTUS that he is in the process of selling off his individual stocks.

Federal lawmakers have introduced several bills this year that would ban, or otherwise restrict, members of Congress and their immediate family from trading individual stocks.

The measures have attracted an unlikely coalition of Republicans and Democrats. Together, they broadly argue that the current STOCK Act is too weak to adequately defend against the specter of insider trading and conflicts of interest and too permissive toward lawmakers who violate — sometimes repeatedly — its transparency and disclosure provisions.

One such bill, the Halting Ownership and Non-Ethical Stock Transaction Act, advanced last month out of a Senate committee thanks to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri teaming with the committee’s Democrats.

President Donald Trump has said he’s open, in principle, to signing a congressional stock-trade ban, although he’s warned Congress that he doesn’t want the ban to extend to the White House.

Both House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have expressed openness to a congressional stock-trade ban. But no such bill has yet received a vote in either the full House or Senate.

This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Mullin’s Late Disclosures Show Millions More in Stock and Bond Sales appeared first on oklahomawatch.org

Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

This content critically examines Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin’s violations of financial disclosure laws, highlighting concerns about transparency and accountability. While it notes that lawmakers from both parties have committed similar infractions, the framing emphasizes ethical shortcomings within the Republican ranks and points to bipartisan legislative efforts to tighten regulations. The tone is investigative and somewhat critical of political corruption, aligning with a Center-Left perspective that values government oversight and reform without overt partisan bias.

SUMMARY: Michael French, operator of a sports training facility in Oklahoma, has been arrested on charges of lewd acts and soliciting a young girl in her early teens. Known for giving private baseball and softball lessons, French’s position raises concern as authorities fear there may be additional, unreported victims. Though former facility owners state French had not worked for them in recent years and never caused issues, police urge anyone affected or aware of inappropriate conduct to come forward. The investigation highlights the risk posed by someone trusted with access to children in sports environments. Authorities continue their search for more victims.

Sports training facility operator accused of child sex crimes

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Source

by Keaton Ross, Oklahoma Watch
August 14, 2025

As federal spending on immigrant enforcement and detention soars, a private prison company is advertising detention officer positions at vacant prisons in Watonga and Sayre.

Tennessee-based CoreCivic, whose stock has risen 52% since President Donald Trump’s victory last November, is offering $27 per hour to detention officer recruits as it negotiates contracts with the federal government to reopen the idle facilities. That’s $5.50 per hour more than what Oklahoma pays its entry-level correctional officers. 

No law enforcement or corrections experience is necessary to apply, according to the postings. Applicants must be 21 or older, have a clean driving record and hold a high school diploma or GED. 

The Watonga prison, which housed out-of-state prisoners from Hawaii, Wisconsin and California during the late 1990s and 2000s, has been empty since May 2010. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections vacated the North Fork facility more recently in June 2023, citing persistent staffing shortages. The facilities have a combined capacity of 4,560 beds.

During a third quarter earnings call on Aug. 7, CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger said the company was in advanced negotiations with the federal government to open two of its vacant prisons. In May, company officials described its Oklahoma facilities as especially attractive to the federal government because they’re centrally located and close to the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City. 

“Contracting activity is happening at a much quicker pace,” Hininger said. “They have a need and a funding for all these solutions.” 

CoreCivic spokesman Brian Todd directed questions about when the facilities could reopen to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement public affairs office. ICE did not respond to a request for comment. 

The Sayre city manager said they have not received any information from CoreCivic. Watonga city officials did not return a call seeking comment. 

Todd said CoreCivic detention staff receive training that meets or exceeds standards approved by the American Correctional Association. One sample contract reviewed by Oklahoma Watch found that ICE requires 60 hours of classroom curriculum and 40 hours of on-the-job training for new detention officers.

In contrast, Oklahoma law sets a baseline of 200 hours of training for state correctional officer certification. Cadets typically receive 400 hours of training during an eight-week training academy. 

Gabriela Ramirez-Perez, an immigration policy analyst at the Oklahoma Policy Institute, said transparency has been lacking as ICE and companies such as CoreCivic and The GEO Group have sprinted to reopen vacant private prisons as detention centers. The federal government has frequently used no-bid contracts to populate the facilities, citing a compelling urgency for thousands of detention beds. So-called letter contracts have also allowed private prison companies to update facilities and recruit staff without a formal agreement. 

Organized opposition to the facilities reopening would likely have to happen at the local level, Ramirez-Perez said. That sort of resistance is playing out in Leavenworth, Kansas, where residents are protesting the reopening of the Midwest Regional Reception Center. The privately run facility was plagued by severe understaffing, rapes and inmate-on-staff assaults for years before shuttering in 2021. 

“These facilities have quite a long history in the two towns that’s not the best,” Ramirez-Perez said.

She said the potential reopening of private detention centers contrasts with Oklahoma’s successful effort to eliminate private prisons. 

The North Fork prison in particular has a lengthy history of large-scale violence. Forty-six out-of-state prisoners from California were injured, with 30 requiring hospitalization, during an October 2011 riot. In April 2017, seven Oklahoma prisoners were hospitalized after a large-scale fight broke out.

CoreCivic also faced allegations of violating state policies when it housed state prisoners. In 2017, The Frontier reported that private prison staff destroyed audio and video evidence of a large-scale gang fight at the Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing, which itself began housing hundreds of ICE detainees this year. 

Polina Rozhkova, a data analyst with the Oklahoma Policy Institute who has researched Oklahoma’s history with private prisons, said private prisons are often a net negative for communities. 

“The job postings may sound great, but this is not a stable source of employment or an institution in these communities,” Rozhkova said. 

Oklahoma Watch intern Valerie Scott contributed to this story.

This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post CoreCivic Advertises Jobs at Vacant Prisons in Watonga and Sayre appeared first on oklahomawatch.org

Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The content critically examines the role of private prison companies like CoreCivic in immigration detention, highlighting concerns about transparency, understaffing, and the negative impact on communities. It emphasizes issues such as the use of no-bid contracts, inadequate training compared to state standards, and the history of violence and mismanagement in private prisons. This focus on accountability, social justice, and skepticism toward privatization aligns with a center-left perspective that advocates for reform in the criminal justice and immigration systems while promoting government oversight and community well-being.