State Treasurer Todd Russ Calls Out the AG for Trampling Constitutional Boundaries

State Treasurer Todd Russ today emphasized the need for clear constitutional boundaries between state investments and prosecution responsibilities in state government, citing recent patterns by AG Gentner Drummond that suggest an ongoing attitude of bullying crossing constitutional lanes of government.

While the Treasurer's constitutional duty centers on financial oversight — including the oversight of more than $40 billion in public pension assets and investment of over $17 billion in daily state cash flow. AG Drummond’s behavior reveal efforts to centralize power in ways that violate the State Treasurer’s constitutional authority and bypass long-standing processes of financial stewardship.

AG Drummond again pointed to past actions taken during the defense of the Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Elimination Act (EDEA) in the State Treasurer’s office. Although the Treasurer requested AG representation early on, AG Drummond’s office declined to defend the law. It was later revealed the AG had close working relationships with the investment company Blackrock, one of the companies involved in ESG investing. Only after the case began facing challenges did the AG highjack the lawsuit, announce he was taking over the legal defense and use the opportunity to publicly bash State Treasurer Todd Russ for using outside council — a pattern that has since been repeated with other officers while directing accountability by the AG’s office elsewhere.

“From the beginning, my office followed the process set forth in the Constitution and enforced by the Legislature,” said Treasurer Russ. “When a law involves both financial management and legal risk, collaboration is key. Unfortunately, what we’ve seen instead is a pattern of reassignment, often after the fact, which seems more about political posturing than truly serving the public.”

This pattern resurfaced again in the form of Senate Bill 714 — a proposal that sought to transfer certain financial functions of the EDEA from the State Treasurer to the Attorney General. While the bill did not pass, it raised important constitutional questions. As written, it would have turned financial and fiduciary expertise of one constitutional officer into legal judgements, making it harder to ensure proper management and protection of the state's funds.

Good government means protecting those constitutional roles given by our forefathers, not reconfiguring them based on political wins.

“The people didn’t elect the office of the Attorney General to carry out all functions of state government,” Treasurer Russ added. “They elected a team — each with distinct roles and responsibilities. That diversity of duty protects the financial wellbeing of Oklahoma taxpayers, families and retirees.”