Guest Columnist: In Defense of Dahm – Part Two
Part One can be read here. This article continues the rebuttal of the accusations against Oklahoma GOP Chairman Nathan Dahm. Part Three will be coming soon.
Allegation Two - refusal to allow the state treasurer to release requested financial records including bank statements, credit card statements and Quick Book files, to the budget committee.
Refutation Two – Rule 10 of the ‘Rules of the Oklahoma Republican Party’ details the State Committee, including membership and their duties. Subsection L details the duties of the State Treasurer. Please go read it yourself. Part of this section states ‘The State Treasurer shall keep a strict account of all receipts and disbursements, with the dates thereof, from who received and to whom disbursed, and the purpose thereof. The accounts of the Treasurer shall be accessible at all times to the State Chairman and Vice Chairman, or any member of said officers of committees duly authorized in writing by such officer or committee.’. Now, you could argue that this means the Treasurer is obligated to hand over the credit card bills to any member of the Budget Committee, but that is not what it says. The Rule requires the Treasurer to ‘keep a strict account’ and there are two of these – one is filed with the FEC, and the other with the OEC. If the Treasurer does not report ALL receipts (aka ‘donations’) and disbursements (aka ‘expenditures’) the Treasurer – a volunteer – will have committed at minimum a violation and potentially a crime. He would be liable for fines and/or jail time if he does not accurately report to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission (OEC). Everything from all sources is compiled into these two reports.
Rule 14 details the State Budget Committee. Subsection C requires a ‘CPA Financial Review’ ‘within a reasonable time after a new chairman is elected’. If there are questions about any financial improprieties, this can also be ‘recommended by the State Budget Committee or the State Committee.’ While I would consider this foolish and likely a waste of time/money/resources, if there are concerns about fraud, misappropriations of funds, hidden accounts, or any other financial impropriety, we already have in the Rules a means and method to investigate such matters.
Author’s Opinion – All financial documentation is already available not only to the Budget Committee and the State Committee, but the entire world – it is reported and published. Any removal of the Chair prior to an audit of these records (again, as provided for in Rule 14) would be premature (at best). These allegations are either a misinterpretation of what the Rules require or they’re yet another attempt to attack the Chairman. You pick, ‘both’ is acceptable as an answer.
This is just a complaint, not a violation of Rules.
Allegation Three - refusing to call a budget committee meeting and then changing the locks on the headquarters when the budget committee tried to meet without him.
Refutation Three – this is actually two allegations. First, there was a Budget Committee meeting in January 2024. This meeting approved the budget for the year.
Second, the locks were not changed due to any budget committee issue. They were changed due to the termination of a volunteer who previously had keys. That’s called a ‘security measure’. While there is apparently debate as to whether this person quit or was fired, I have no personal or firsthand knowledge as to why they left - but I know they did in fact leave. The Chairman has a duty and obligation to secure the building.
Author’s Opinion – it is easily and provably false – that is, it is a lie – to claim that there have not been budget meetings. The Rules specify (Rule 13) that the State Chairman is to appoint a State Finance Chairman – but they do not specify a Budget Committee Chairman. Since the Party Chairman is specifically appointed by Rule to this Committee, and he is the highest-ranking Party official in the state, he is defacto the Chairman of the Budget Committee. He can call a Budget Committee meeting whenever he wants – or not. The Rules don’t specify how often this committee meets, only that it ‘shall have the power and authority, to prepare budgets designating the amount, classification and priority of expenditures to be made from funds of the Republican State Committee, giving due consideration to the estimated availability of funds.’ (Rule 14(b)). The meeting in January is actual proof the Rules are being followed.
This is just a complaint, not a violation of Rules.
Allegation Four – charging members exorbitant fees for convention they had to attend in order to vote.
Refutation Four – there is no Rule that defines an amount that is acceptable to charge for the State Convention, or any other gathering, of the Oklahoma Republican Party. There were numerous proposals to modify this fact in the proposed changes to the Rules this year, but these were not addressed by the State Convention, so no action has been taken. They were all included in the Report of the Rules Committee. Based on these facts, the obvious questions to ask are first, who sets the price, and second, why is it that amount?
Setting the price of the convention tickets is part of the responsibilities of the State Executive Committee. Rule 11 (b) ‘Duties’ states in part that ‘Said committee shall fix the time and place of any State Convention as more fully prescribed in Rule 16’. Rule 16 (Conventions) designates the State Executive Committee in subsection C with this text: ‘The State Executive Committee shall fix the deadlines for holding said regular biennial and quadrennial Precinct Meetings, County Conventions, and Congressional District Conventions, and the time and place of the State Conventions.’ Although I am not a member of the State Executive Committee, if I were to guess the price of the State Convention was probably set by this committee, and certainly was discussed here.
The next logical question to ask is ‘why was the amount roughly $100?’. To clarify for the general public, the ‘early bird fee’ prior to April 19th was $99, from April 19th to April 30th it was $119. Let’s do some math! You have facility rental (about $10,000 for the church used this year). There is software that tracks registration and credentials which is approximately $40 per person. Note – this software contract obligated the party for several years and was entered into by a prior Chairman, State Executive Committee and/or State Committee – the current administration is not to blame for this expense. If you have 1000 guests, you’re at about $50 PER PERSON. This does not address other expenses (printing, catering, security, and all other things that are part of a convention). It would be surprising to me if the Party ended up with a ‘profit’ of $20 per delegate after all expenses are covered.
Author’s Opinion – it is completely legitimate to charge enough to cover the expenses of the convention and enough extra that the party has funds to operate, donate, or put to good use. If you object to the cost, that’s fine – but this is not grounds for removing the Chairman.
This is just a complaint, not a violation of Rules.
Allegation Five - refusing the elected Vice Chair access to the office, database or website.
Refutation Five – various Rules appoint the Vice Chair to certain committees (State Committee/Rule 10, State Executive Committee/Rule 11, State Central Committee/Rule 12, State Finance Committee/Rule 13, State Budget Committee/Rule 14). None of these Rules grant ‘access to the office, database or website’. Rule 10(g) defines the duties of both the State Chairman and Vice Chairman. For clarity I will post the entire Rule here, with bold for some Vice Chair items:
“Election and Duties of State Chairman and Vice Chairman: The State Chairman and Vice Chairman shall be elected by the regular biennial State Convention, by roll call vote if there is more than one candidate nominated for either office. The State Chairman shall be the executive officer and the Vice Chairman the assistant executive officer of the State Committee and the Oklahoma Republican Party. The State Chairman shall be responsible for the enforcement of these rules and the carrying out of the directions and resolutions of the State Committee and the State Conventions in accordance with these rules. The State Chairman shall not discard any of the files or records of the Republican State Committee without the consent of the Budget Committee. The State Chairman shall assist in all national Republican Party campaigns, and shall have general supervision over all activities, functions, and campaigns within the state. The State Vice Chairman shall aid and assist the State Chairman in all of said duties and shall act as Chairman when the chairmanship is vacant or when the Chairman is disqualified or is not available. They shall have the same right to vote at any State Committee meeting as members of said committee.”
Author’s Opinion - The Vice Chairman is required to ‘aid and assist the State Chairman’ in addition to serving on the designated committees as a voting member. That’s it. Access to anything is at the discretion of the Chairman. If you don’t like it, change the Rules. It is clearly not grounds for removing the Chairman.
This is just a complaint, not a violation of Rules.
Allegation Six - refusal to publish minutes and resolutions from meetings by the State Committee.
Refutation Six – Rule 10(k) details the ‘Duties of the State Secretary’ and is posted below, with the relevant portion in bold:
Duties of the State Secretary: The State Secretary shall attend all meetings of the State Committee and keep the minutes of all meetings and reports furnished to said committee. The minutes of such meetings shall be attested by the State Secretary. The minutes and reports shall be transmitted or delivered to the office of the State Chairman at the State Headquarters, as soon as possible, not to exceed ten (10) days after each meeting. They shall remain there available for review by any officer or member of the State Republican Committee.
Rule 19 (e) goes beyond Rule 10(k), and specifically addresses Minutes. In its entirety, with the relevant part in bold, it reads:
Minutes of All Official Actions: Written minutes shall be kept by all County, Congressional District, and State Committee meetings, chartered organizations, and conventions of final official actions taken by them, a copy of which shall be filed with the County Chairman as to all county matters, and with the Congressional District Chairman as to all Congressional District matters, and with the State Chairman as to all State matters. Said minutes shall be available for review by any registered Republican voter upon request to the County, Congressional District, or State Chairman within 10 days of the request.
Neither of these Rules – the only ones that address minutes – require ‘publication’.
Regarding Resolutions, the Chairman is directed in Rule 10(g) as follows: “The State Chairman shall be responsible for the enforcement of these rules and the carrying out of the directions and resolutions of the State Committee and the State Conventions in accordance with these rules.”
Again, there is no requirement in the Rules for ‘publication’.
Author’s Opinion – while certain parties may wish there was a requirement to publish these things – there is no such requirement in the Rules.
This is just a complaint, not a violation of Rules.
Allegation Seven - his attempt to reverse the legitimate GOP censure of Senator James Lankford this past January.
Refutation Seven – the ‘State Committee Meeting’ where the censure of Senator Lankford was passed occurred on January 27th, 2024. A press release stated that 124 voting members of the State Committee ‘resoundingly approved this resolution’. Let’s add some facts to this allegation. Here is the justification by Vice Chairman Wayne Hill for calling the meeting. He states, ‘yesterday I called a meeting of the State Committee for January 27th'. Here is an article that publishes Chairman Nathan Dahm’s response. In the article Chairman Dahm points out Rule 10(c) requires a joint call for a State Committee meeting. This did not happen. Vice Chairman Hill called the meeting – as he states above – and he did this solo. That means the meeting he called is not a State Committee meeting, since he doesn’t have the authority to call such a meeting on his own (and neither does the Chairman). IF one of them refusesto call the meeting, then it can be called by only one – but if the Vice Chair doesn’t ask the Chair to call a meeting (or the Chair ask the Vice Chair) FIRST, the Rule has not been followed and the meeting is not legitimate. Only a refusal to call the meeting by one of the parties allows the other party to call the meeting by themself.
Author’s Opinion – we are not the democrats. We have Rules and we follow them regardless of what the majority wishes – and there is a process to change those Rules, but it is NOT easy, on purpose. Our Rules are designed to reflect the will of the majority while protecting the rights of the minority – which is a core function of being a Republican. Chairman Dahm has always followed this core principle. You can’t ‘reverse’ the action of an illegal meeting – but you CAN lie to people and tell them it’s legal. That certainly happened here.
What of the substance of the ‘censure’? There are those who imply that Chairman Dahm is a supporter of Senator Lankford. While his role as Chairman requires him to be a neutral party in many things, he does have a history with Senator Lankford. Here is an article discussing his challenge to Lankford in the 2022 election. Although he later switched to running for an open seat when Senator Inhofe retired, it outlines his opinion of Lankford. He is cited as making the following criticisms of Lankford: dropping the challenge to the certification on January 6th; being a RINO; not stopping critical race theory in education (via I assume funding in Senate appropriations); and not advocating for the arrest of Dr. Anthony Fauci due to his role in creating COVID-19 and his handling of the pandemic. You could safely say Chairman Dahm ‘called him out’.
For Chairman Dahm, this is just a complaint, not a violation of the Rules. For Vice Chairman Hill, this IS a violation of the Rules.
All of this is public.
There are no secret accounts.
The rumors are lies.
The liars spread the rumors.
Steve Dickson
Precinct 405 Chairman, Oklahoma County
2024 Oklahoma County Executive Committee
2024 Oklahoma County and State Convention Rules Chairman
2024 State Ad Hoc Resolutions Committee Chairman
