Sen. Lankford talks Epstein files, military funding, legacy of former Oklahoma Gov. George Nigh

With the recent passing of former Oklahoma Gov. George Nigh and several recent developments in our nation's capitol, Oklahomans have questions for their leaders they want answered.

News 9 asked Sen. James Lankford about the latest from Washington, ranging from transparency, Oklahoma priorities, and a heartfelt tribute to former Governor George Nigh.

Q: Regarding the Epstein files, are you hopeful we're going to see more information released, or do you see this as a distraction to this administration?

A: Obviously it's been a distraction. This has been a conversation now for years and years. People are really grieved at anyone [who's] abusing children in the process, and all the horrific stories that are out of it. This, like other stories, get the information out, get the facts out, get as many details out as you possibly can. Some of it will be redacted, because it actually has victims' names and victims' information; we obviously need to be able to protect those folks. There's also going to be names of people who were not connected in the process. Those folks need to be protected, but let's get the information out. Let the chips fall where they may. I would have to say there's there's all this churn out there that maybe President Trump's name is in it, and that's the reason it's being protected. That absolutely makes me laugh because these files have been there for four years. I have every confidence that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would have released some file if President Trump's name had been in it, so that has not happened, not occurred. Let's just get all the information out, but let's also tamp down on the conspiracy theories that are out there, and make sure we're actually tracking the facts. 

Q: Another thing that caught our attention was the military construction package. Can you run us through those possibilities for us? 

A: I can actually. When we walk through the bill, it's actually on the floor right now, called the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs budget. I have multiple requests that I actually put in to be able to make sure that the priorities that we have in Oklahoma and for the United States military are all being covered, and many of them are in this bill right now. That's the new hangar at Tinker, that's a new child development center at Tinker, that's an expansion. And McAlester, that is not only the new school, but also other aspects. At Altus, we've got aspects in Enid that we're actually adding into. There are a lot of things we're doing. At Veterans Affairs, when a veteran asks for their medical records and goes to make that request, they're still getting them on a CD. We are trying to be able to get them to modernize, very few people have a CD player on their computer anymore. We've got to make sure those records are actually put in a way that people can actually use. So we're trying to be able to get them to modernize as well. Government moves slowly, another good example of that, but let's get them caught up and have it actually better for everybody.

Q: Former Oklahoma Governor George has passed at 98. What are your thoughts on the former governor? 

A: What a great legend for Oklahoma. He's somebody who deeply loved Oklahoma, worked for Oklahoma all the way to the end. I ran into him not long ago at Jimmy's Egg over one weekend for breakfast. He's just chipper, still meeting people, interacting with folks there, everybody loves George Nigh, and George Nigh loved everybody, and everybody knew it. He'll be sorely missed as a leader in Oklahoma and as a cheerleader for Oklahoma. 

Q: The resolution you introduced on the floor, we rarely see a big unanimous vote on this, but the Thunder we can all get behind, right?

A: Yeah, we did a resolution. This is one of the fun things that you could do. We have a lot of work and a lot of things, we're working on appropriations, we're working on nominations, we're still here in Washington, D.C., got a lot to do. But you also get a chance to occasionally put something fun, like recognizing the Oklahoma City Thunder, celebrating them, SGA, and the MVP both of the season and of the Finals. I thoroughly enjoyed it, getting a unanimous vote. That means the two senators from Indiana also had to join me to actually support this resolution. Not only did I make them wear a Thunder jersey when it was all over, we also got them to vote for our resolution. 

Q: Is there anything else that you think is important for Oklahomans to hear from you this morning? 

A: We're still working in the Senate. We've got a lot to do working through nominations. This has been one of those frustrating things. The President has to get his staff, we have 115 so far, people that we've been able to confirm, but it's been the hard way. We work nights, weekends, Democrats understand. They don't like some of the things President Trump does, but we do, and we're going to continue to be able to press on this and to be able to get his people in place. We've confirmed twice as many people now as we did during his first term. We've got a list of people we're still going to confirm in the next week or two, and we're going to keep going til we get them done, get it done the hard way or the easy way, one way or the other, we're gonna get these folks confirmed. He's got to be able to have his staff around him, and we're going to get it done.