OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — One day after Ryan Walters’ resignation became official, his controversial top advisor is also out—and the state’s attorney general is now calling for a full investigative audit of Walters’ time in office.
A top Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) official confirmed Wednesday that Walters’ chief policy advisor, Matt Langston, “will not be returning” to the department.
And on Wednesday afternoon, it was unclear whether Langston was still on the state payroll.
As News 4 has extensively reported, Langston is paid a $150,000 taxpayer-funded salary, plus receives more than $40,000 in taxpayer-funded bonuses.
Meanwhile, he lives and works full-time in Texas, where he runs his own political consulting firm.
“[Langston’s] connections and people that the superintendent has brought on board are all political folks,” Former Republican State Rep. Mark McBride said. “They’re all working on campaigns from Florida to Washington, D.C.”
As News 4 previously reported, records uncovered by Oklahoma Watch revealed Langston only used his badge to enter the Education Department building four times in the first half of 2025.
“He’s a ghost employee,” McBride said. “He’s not showing up to work, but he’s getting a check from the state of Oklahoma.”
One Walters appointee who has not left the department is Chief of Staff Matt Mohler.
A security guard confirmed to News 4 that Mohler was in the building on Wednesday.
News 4’s Spencer Humphrey later encountered Mohler in the guiding and asked Mohler if he planned to resign.
Mohler did not respond.
News 4 first reported in April that the state paid Mohler, a Florida-based political consultant, nearly $50,000 during his first month on the job.
“It’s a huge waste,” State Sen. Mary Boren (D-Norman) said. “And we know it’s a huge waste.”
Boren said the situation may go beyond waste.
“If [Langston and/or Mohler] were taking money to do a job that they weren’t doing, that violates state law,” Boren said.
News 4 heard from multiple current Republican and Democratic state lawmakers on Wednesday who said Mohler and Langston need to be among the first staffers to go following Walters’ exit, in their opinion.
“I think our new interim state superintendent is going to have to quickly restore order after this storm that we’ve been through collectively as a state,” Boren said. “And he’s going to have to assess very quickly those that are here to help the state move forward and get our schools back on track.”
Additionally, lawmakers from both parties also told News 4 on Wednesday that they want to see a full forensic audit of Walters’ tenure at the helm of OSDE.
“We just need to make sure that whatever has happened before us in the fiscal mismanagement is appropriately attributed to the prior administration so that this new administration can have a fresh start,” Boren said.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced he has formally requested an audit from State Auditor Cindy Byrd.
“Given the former superintendent’s well-established history of mishandling tax dollars, combined with new and ongoing allegations of misspending, I am now ordering an investigative audit of the Oklahoma State Department of Education,” Drummond said.
News 4 reached out to OSDE for comment, but security staff said the agency’s spokesperson did not report to work on Wednesday.
Gov. Kevin Stitt has not formally announced a replacement for Walters, but as News 4 reported Tuesday, multiple sources tell News 4 that Stitt is expected to appoint former Tri-County Career Tech Superintendent Lindel Fields.
