For those of you more plugged into the Wichita political scene, what other kind of shady crap has he done in the past? That story is bonkers, by the way. Thanks for going to all that trouble, MIR. It was a good read.
His scandals section of his wiki page is longer than most politicians entire wiki page. It's astounding that he even has a wiki page. One thing that I can say for a lock stock fact, that isn't on here, is when he won his city commission seat in 2011, his living in the district was simply a technicality. He "lived" in the basement of the same house he claimed in '07. Some of these are things I covered but there are some juicy parts that I didn't.
What's wild is despite all of this homeboy hasn't lost a primary or election.
Wichita City Council residency disqualificationIn 2007, O'Donnell ran for Wichita City Council, to represent the council district that covered southwest Wichita. O'Donnell claimed to live in the district, at the former parsonage house of a church where his father was pastor. However, O'Donnell was disqualified, and removed from the ballot, when it was discovered that he did not actually live there, nor in Wichita, at all -- but rather lived where he was registered to vote: in his parents' home in the suburb of Bel Aire, northeast of the city, miles away from the Wichita City Council district he sought to represent.
Illegal Alcohol to Minors AllegationIn early March, 2016, Wichita police announced they would investigate allegations that O’Donnell (then a 31-year-old Kansas state senator) had purchased alcohol for underage students at Wichita State University. O'Donnell acknowledged to the Wichita Eagle newspaper that he had provided money for alcohol at the party -- and later admitted to actually buying two cases of beer -- for a woman's 21st birthday party, at a university fraternity, but said he had assumed all participants would be 21 years old. In another account, to the Topeka Capital-Journal newspaper, O'Donnell said he had taken "liquor" to a party.
Wichita police later announced it was dropping the investigation, "due to lack of evidence and elements of a crime," and owing to an uncooperative witness -- refusing further comment.
The incident, and police response, became a topic of controversy and debate during O'Donnell's campaign for Sedgwick County Commissioner against incumbent Tim Norton
Alcohol in Church School VanIn August 2017, allegations arose that O'Donnell took a school van from the Wichita-area Sunrise Christian Academy, to celebrate his 33rd birthday with at a Kansas City Royals baseball game over 200 miles away, where he was reportedly seen with 7 to 10 young men in the van. Earlier, the van had been photographed August 5th in the stadium parking lot, containing whiskey and a case of Busch Light beer. Despite the school's policy against drinking alcohol, and its brief online expression of regret over the incident, and denial of responsibility, the school's superintendent declined to acknowledge whether the van had been operated by O'Donnell (who also refused to comment on the incident). O'Donnell's father (a pastor), and his mother (a teacher), were connected with the school, which O'Donnell had attended years earlier.
Federal Investigation and FBI WiretapOn February 14, 2017, it was reported that O'Donnell's cell phone had been wiretapped by the FBI in 2015. On the same day, Wichita businessman Brandon Steven confirmed that he was the subject of a federal investigation related to his involvement in high-stakes poker and the proposed development of Castle Rock Casino. It is unclear whether the two incidents are related.
Federal Indictments for Wire Fraud and Money LaunderingOn May 4, 2018, while serving as Sedgwick County Commissioner, O'Donnell was indicted on federal charges including 23 counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. He remained free on a $5000 secured bond. The charges relate to his successful campaign for the Kansas Senate seat. The indictment states that over a period of months in 2015 and 2016, O'Donnell wrote checks from his campaign funds to three of his friends, who cashed them totaling $10,500. Prosecutors charged that O'Donnell's friends did little or no campaign work to earn the payments. Furthermore, the indictment maintains that at least $2000 from the cashed checks was deposited into O'Donnell's personal account.
On March 4, 2019, O'Donnell was acquitted of 21 counts of money laundering. The jury was hung on five charges, including two counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. The decisions on all of the federal charges were based on whether O'Donnell's intent in violating campaign finance rules was "knowingly and intentionally" to defraud the public, rather than just routine campaign finance violations. Federal Judge Eric Melgren granted the request of prosecutors to dismiss the two remaining counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering "without prejudice." That gives the Department of Justice the ability to file the charges again in the future.
County Commission opponent's residencyDuring his 2020 campaign for re-election to the Sedgwick County Commission, O'Donnell raised allegations that his Democratic opponent, Sarah Lopez, was not actually a resident of Sedgwick County District 2, which they both sought to represent.
A former employee of O'Donnell's campaign, KNSS-AM radio host John Whitmer, took the allegation further, filing an official complaint with the county election office -- Sedgwick County's first official election residency challenge since O'Donnell had been disqualified in the 2007 Wichita City Council race (for not actually residing in Wichita).
However, a panel of three Sedgwick County officials -- Sherriff, District Attorney, and Chief Deputy Election Commissioner (all Republicans) -- investigated and determined that Lopez was a proper resident of the district, and could remain on the ballot,, stating further that:
"There is no evidence whatever that she does not live in the district" ~Sherriff Jeff Easter
"I’ve not heard anything myself to suggest that we have evidence that Ms. Lopez was not and is not a resident of District II" ~District Attorney Marc Bennett
The panel -- criticizing the allegation as unfounded and made without due diligence by Whitmer -- assessed investigation costs against him, as a deterrent to future frivolous claims. The chief district attorney's investigator also debunked claims O’Donnell made regarding Lopez's living arrangement.
Defamation Conspiracy Charges in Mayoral Race
Investigation and chargesIn 2019, Wichita Mayoral candidate Brandon Whipple, a Democrat, opposed the incumbent Mayor Jeff Longwell, a Republican, in an officially non-partisan race. During the race, an attack ad from an anonymous source, aimed against Whipple, alleged or implied that Whipple had been involved in sexual harassment of legislative interns while he was a state representative -- allegations later debunked.
Whipple, successful in his mayoral bid, began legal proceedings alleging illegal defamation, and in February 2020 -- represented by the area's former U.S. Attorney, Randy Rathbun -- brought suit against the person who produced the video, Matthew Colborn, and an obscure group calling itself "Protect Wichita Girls." In the process, Whipple's attorney issued a subpoena for e-mails between O'Donnell and Sedgwick County Republican Party Chair Kent Glasscock.
In October 2020, through Rathbun, Whipple amended the defamation and conspiracy lawsuit to include Commissioner O'Donnell and two other Wichita-area Republican politicians -- Kansas State Representative Michael Capps and Wichita City Councilman James Clendenin -- as defendants. Allegations cited were that the alleged co-conspirators tried to blame their elaborate, interstate conspiracy on Sedgwick County Republican Chairman Dalton Glasscock, and further that, with false accusations, they intended to generate marital discord within Whipple's own family.
The amended lawsuit further alleged that O’Donnell wrote the script for the false ad, Clendenin raised money for promoting it, and Capps attempted to hide their identities by creating an cover organization in New Mexico.
Audio recording revelationsO'Donnell continued to deny any involvement,, saying to KWCH-TV Eyewitness News, on camera (broadcast that October 14, 2020):
"I’m a conservative Republican. This is nothing more than a political hit job... On my father’s grave, I had nothing to do with this video, and we are going to be filing a lawsuit as well."
However, nine days later, October 23, 2020, a secret audio recording emerged of a meeting of the alleged conspirators, with their video producer, Colburn (who secretly recorded the meeting), discussing the attack ad project and cover-up. Extensive excerpts of the recording were published in the local newspaper and played on local television, showing that the three Republicans had, indeed, conspired largely as alleged, with O'Donnell heard saying:
"Like I’ve always learned in politics, it’s always avoid the truth at all expense, right? And just go on the attack."
Whole copies and excerpts (audio and print), of the secret recording, were published online by local media, including the city's main newspaper, the Wichita Eagle and Wichita's CBS-TV affiliate KWCH-TV.
Removal or resignation demands and inquiryThe revelation prompted immediate condemnations from throughout the Wichita area, including calls from three of his four fellow County Commissioners (mostly Republican) for O'Donnell to resign, and withdraw from the re-election race.
Similar demands were made by the Sedgwick County Republican Party, which announced on social media, October 24, 2020:
"This week’s events bring to a head the malicious and dishonest actions of Michael Capps, Michael O’Donnell, and James Clendenin over the past year. We have stated from the beginning that this type of politics and actions would not be supported by the Sedgwick County Republican Party. We have said, and repeat, that those involved in this video ad campaign and the misinformation campaign are not fit to serve in public office and should step down."
The Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce, and its political action committee (which had previously backed O'Donnell), concurred.
October 25th-26th, the Sedgwick County District Attorney announced an joint investigation -- by his office, the Wichita Police Department and the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department -- into whether O'Donnell and his co-conspirators could be forced from public office. State statutes prevent the legal ouster of a state official within 180 days before the end of their term in office, or within 120 days after its start -- with the result that O'Donnell, and co-conspirator Capps (who was also running for re-election) were immune from normal ouster proceedings until the election, and -- if re-elected -- immune from such proceedings during the first 120 days of their new term.
One of the Commissioners calling for O'Donnell's resignation expressed concern that his resignation or forced departure, so close to the November 3rd general election, might be irrelevant if O'Donnell were to win re-election -- a particular concern since early voting had already begun before the revelation of the recording of O'Donnell's conspiratorial meeting.
