In our last piece on the Bill Gates/CCP/WY Nuclear Deal we said, “Folks need to remember how Gordon turned his back on Wyomingites last year as he wasted away our tax dollars on his boondoggle-land-deal” and that “Gordon is doing the same damn thing again”. Much has happened between now and the Gordon-land-boondoggle days of yesteryear; Covid/health orders; violations of multiple constitutional rights; WY 2020 legislative special session to spend massive amounts of COVID $$; small businesses shutting down and owners going bankrupt; schools temporarily closing; people becoming absolutely obsessed with masks; riots, arson and pillaging across several states; BLM marches across most states; a stolen United States Presidential election; etc.
Because the Occidental issue was gradually drowned out by louder events, we decided we should revisit that time period of the Gordon-land-boondoogle. Understanding what happened then, might give us some insights as to what we can expect with this new, and more critically disturbing and dangerous nuclear boondoggle. And so we put together a timeline.
We love timelines. Timelines can be constructed during or after an issue; timelines built while an issue is playing out can give clues of what might be expected; timelines built after an issue provides clear, yet late, hindsight. Timelines give you perspective because you can see the timing of key events – including important pieces that might play out simultaneously, as well as media pieces being published in an ever-so-timely fashion to spoon-feed the public, incrementally, sometimes with government-preferred news, and other times to grease the wheels for favored agendas and/or politicians, and sometimes for all those purposes. Sometimes you can pinpoint exactly when and where the cart was placed before the horse, and by whom.
We provide the Mark Gordon Occidental Land Boondoggle Timeline in three segments below. Bear in mind that there is most certainly other pertinent items that could be put on this timeline. What we have here is likely enough to form an opinion of what we can generally expect from Gordon with the Bill Gates/CCP/WY Nuclear Deal.
What precipitated the Mark Gordon Occidental Land Boondoggle: Exclusive: Occidental seeks up to $700 million for Anadarko assets in Wyoming, Colorado – sources, Reuters, November 11, 2019.
FEBRUARY 2020
| 10 Feb, 2020 | Gordon News Release: Gordon State of the State speech (Land deal never mentioned) |
| 11 Feb, 2020 | Bill number assigned to HB0222 – Public meetings. |
| 12 Feb, 2020 | Bill number assigned to HB0249 – Investment of state funds. |
| 12 Feb, 2020 | Bill number assigned to SF138 – Investment of state funds-2. |
| 18, Feb, 2020 | Gordon News Release: Governor Gordon joins Legislative Leadership in supporting exploration of land purchase |
| 18, Feb, 2020 | WY Tribune Eagle: Gordon, top lawmakers eyes massive land purchase in southern Wyoming |
| 20, Feb, 2020 | WTC: State Land Grab |
| 20, Feb, 2020 | WyoFile: State could spend hundreds of millions on Occidental land |
| 24, Feb, 2020 | Casper Star: Gov. Mark Gordon: Invest in Wyoming |
Gordon never mentioned the Occidental land deal during his Feb 10th State of the State address on the first day of the WY 2020 legislative budget session. Just eight days later however, on Feb 18th, he announced that he was ‘joining legislative leadership in supporting exploration of a land purchase’.
House Bill 0222 Public Meetings was assigned a bill # on February 11th. This bill provided an exemption (§16‑4‑407 Conflict of law) for the WY State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB) from the Wyoming Public Meetings laws. Basically this would have provided SLIB the serendipitous power to hold private meetings for “education or training” purposes – such as, perhaps, education & training on confidential land deals and clandestine bidding processes. Thankfully, this bill was handily killed in the House on February 20th with only 9 Ayes to 51 Nays. Although it later proved it didn’t really matter they still did what the hell they wanted to anyways. June 19, 2021 Update: We just discovered that the public meetings exemption for SLIB had been amended into HB0164 Investment of public funds twelve days later by Senators Nethercott and Kinskey on 3/3/20. Talk about team work. Too bad the team they’re on is elected officials rather than their constituents.
Even more revealing about HB0222 is that while it was sponsored by the WY 2020 Legislative Appropriations Committee, the subject was never on their 2020 interim topics list. SLIB and/or public meetings were never officially on the Appropriations Committee’s radar at all. But it was, strangely coincidentally, on the radar of certain unknown members who convinced the rest to endorse committee sponsorship of the bill:
2020 Appropriations Committee members:
Co-Chairs Senator Eli Bebout and House Representative Bob Nicholas; Senators Wyatt Agar, Mike Gierau, Larry Hicks, Dave Kinskey; House Reps Mark Kinner, Lloyd Larsen, Jared Olsen, Andy Schwartz, Albert Sommers, and Tom Walters.
Compare those members with the legislators who had drafted identical bills to literally codify the land deal before the governor ever announced his interest in Occidental’s lands (both drafts were assigned bill numbers on Feb 12th):
House Bill 0249 – Investment of state funds. Sponsored by: Representative(s) Nicholas, Harshman, Kinner, Larsen, Olsen, Schwartz, Sommers and Walters; and
Senate File 0138 – Investment of state funds-2. Sponsored by: Senator(s) Bebout, Dockstader, Driskill, Gierau, Hicks, Kinskey, Perkins and Rothfuss.
Does anyone smell something rotten coming from the country next to Germany?
So key legislators were blazing the trail before Gordon jumped on the bandwagon. Would any of those legislators have a conflict of interest to sponsor those bills, much less vote on them? We think so. For starters, newly retired Senator Eli Bebout comes to mind immediately because of multiple businesses that he owns that could potentially benefit from state contracts to develop the mineral assets in those lands. (Bebout is no stranger to ethics complaints of this nature as shown in this 2016 Casper Trib article, Complaint calls for ethics investigation of Bebout, Nicholas, Mead.)
One would think it would be humiliating for any leader, such as a state governor, to announce such a historical move just eight days after a decisive speech that failed to even hint at that prospect at all. But not Mark Gordon – he was not humiliated at all. Why is that? Is it arrogance? Or is it absolute lack of respect for Wyoming Citizens? We’re thinking it’s both. In fact, we’re positive about that.
Equally important – isn’t it amazing how Gordon appears to be manipulated by others outside of his circle so swiftly? Or perhaps some of those legislators highlighted above are in his circle? In the course of eight days Gordon did an about-face and became convinced that he could pull-off something never done before in the history of the United States – that is, to have a state purchase 6,250 square miles of land that, in total, spans across three states. Now that is pure arrogance.
MARCH – JUNE 2020
| 11 Mar, 2020 | HB0249 – Investment of state funds Fails Concurrence (unanimously) |
| 12 Mar, 2020 | SF0138- Investment of state funds-2 passes legislative process – becomes Senate Enrolled Act 0069 (SEA69) |
| 12 Mar, 2020 | Gordon posts Proposed Occidental Land Purchase FAQ Page |
| 13 Mar, 2020 | WyoFile: Gordon using private-sector advisors to help evaluate Oxy land deal |
| 26 Mar, 2020 | Veto Letter: Gordon Vetoes SF138 Investment of state funds -2/SEA69 |
| 29 Apr, 2020 | Barclays and WY Office of State Lands and Investments (OSLI) sign contract [unbeknownst to the public] |
| 15 May, 2020 | WTC: AUDIO: Rep Nicholas Spills the Beans on Gordon’s Land Deal (during 2020 Special Session) |
| 15 May, 2020 | $500,000 payment made to Barclay’s. Funds from OSLI. See image below. |
| 18 May, 2020 | Gordon edits Proposed Occidental Land Purchase FAQ Page [version 2] |
| 3 Jun, 2020 | SLIB Executive Session 9AM – 10:30AM. (WTC posted May 31, 2020 – meeting now does not show up in SLIB archives.) |
| 18 Jun, 2020 | Gordon edits Proposed Occidental Land Purchase FAQ Page [version 3] |
| 24 Jun, 2020 | Nasdaq: Occidental Petroleum sets [July 1] deadline for bids on Wyoming, Colorado properties |
| 24 Jun, 2020 | WyoFile: Governor preps bid for Occidental land, leaving Legislature out |
| 26 Jun, 2020 | Times-Call (Colorado): Occidental to sell 190,000 acres worth of mineral rights in northern Larimer, Weld counties |
| 26 Jun, 2020 | $307,862.35 payment made to Barclay’s. Funds from Governor’s Office (& Office of Homeland Security). See image below. |
| 26 Jun, 2020 | $192,137.65 payment made to Barclay’s. Funds from Governor’s Office (& Office of Homeland Security). See image below. |
| 28 Jun, 2020 | Gordon edits Proposed Occidental Land Purchase FAQ Page [version 4] |
| 29 June, 2020 | Seeking Alpha: Occidental Petroleum: A ‘Foolproof’ Strategy Ending In A Complete Fiasco |
| 29 June, 2020 | WTC: Governor Mark Gordon Signals He Will Not Be Seeking Re-election |
| 30 Jun, 2020 | WTC: Barclays-OSLI Contract Exposed |
So even though the Oxy land deal was most likely certain legislator’s idea to begin with, Gordon ends up kicking the entire legislative body to the gutter by vetoing the only enrolled act (SEA69) that would have provided legislative oversight. It probably felt more like being kicked in the teeth.
Almost two months after that veto, how interesting it is that Representative Nicholas had inside information to share during 2020 Special Session that Gordan had ‘contracted an investment banker’. Another kick in the teeth to most legislators.
So much for the separation of some elected officials’ powers.
Gordon announced the land deal on Feb 18th and persuaded OSLI to sign a contract with Barclays by April 29th. Just think of how many Wyomingites calls and emails went unanswered during that period of time. No one will ever know the number, but to this day we have never heard of a single Wyoming Citizen that received a personal response from Gordon on that land deal. Not one.
On the same day that Rep Nicholas spilled the beans that Gordon had contracted an investment banker (May 15th), the first payment to Barclays was posted at WyOpen.gov ($500,000 from OSLI). If Nicholas had kept his mouth shut on May 15th, would the ‘transparent’ posting of that payment have occurred on a different day? If so, then Auditor Kristi Racines cannot be trusted either.
We are unaware that Gordon had ever publicly acknowledged the OSLI decision to contract with Barclay’s until after the contract was exposed. Most politicians with their hand caught in the cookie jar would at least acknowledge their transgression – but not Gordon. He chose to ignore that deception altogether. As did every board member of OSLI/SLIB – Governor Gordon, Secretary of State Ed Buchanan, Treasurer Curt Meier, Auditor Kristi Racines and School Superintendent Jillian Balow.
Then on June 26th the Governor’s office cut another $500,000 payment to Barclay’s via two separate transactions – both depleting the Office of Homeland Security. So what was up with that? Why two separate transactions of odd amounts, and why from the Office of Homeland Security? If memory serves, the only thing Gordon had to say for himself is that all those funds are appropriated to the Governor’s office and so there was no wrong-doing. As if budget appropriations are his own personal allowance to play with. How slimey and deceptive, and what a scandalous betrayal to all Wyomingites.
Another interesting thing that transpired between March and the end of June 2020 is how many times Gordon edited his Proposed Occidental Land Purchase FAQ Page. That FAQ page was the only real communication that Gordon extended over the course of four months – one-way communication to be more precise. Sure, sometimes newspapers do updates or edits, but they typically acknowledge that the content has been updated in some way. But not Gordon. He was too busy playing with moving pieces behind our backs. He had no time for the little people. The Gordon Occidental land pursuit was a dynamic process that Wyoming Citizens never factored into. Well, except for the money part. And the fact that he was elected to the position that he had no problem violating.
July – August 2020
| 1 July, 2020 | Occidental lands Bid Deadline |
| 1 July, 2020 | K2Radio: Oil Company Extends Bid Deadline [to July 8] for Connecticut-Size Lands in Wyoming |
| 1 July, 2020 | [Posted at 02:01 PM MDT] Notice of a Special [July 6] Meeting of the State Loan and Investment Board. Meeting to discuss the potential investment in real property held by Occidental Petroleum Company. The meeting will convene via web conference and is open to the public… During the meeting, the SLIB may convene a closed executive session. |
| 2 July, 2020 | Live Facebook Townhall by Chuck Gray on Occidental Land Deal |
| 6 July, 2020 | SLIB Meeting Video Part 1 (4 hours) |
| 6 July, 2020 | SLIB Meeting Video Part 2 (1 hour) |
| 7 July, 2020 | Gordon News Release: Governor and Top Elected Officials Unanimously Support Bid to Invest in Wyoming Land |
| 8 July, 2020 | Second Occidental bid deadline |
| 8 July, 2020 | Mark Gordon COVID Press Conference. [Begins speaking about land deal at around 18 minutes.] |
| 27 July, 2020 | Gordon edits Proposed Occidental Land Purchase FAQ Page [version 5] |
| 11 Aug, 2020 | Gordon News Release: Wyoming’s Bold Bid to Diversify Investments with Land Purchase is on Hold |
| 19 Aug, 2020 | Associated Press: Orion Mine Finance buys Occidental land in Wyoming [$1.33 billion] |
| 19 Aug, 2020 | Gordon News Release: Governor expresses disappointment in Wyoming lands going to another buyer |
| 24 Aug, 2020 | $1,500,000 payment made to Barclay’s. Funds from State Treasurer’s Office. See image below. |
| Final Date Unknown | Mark Gordon Final FAQ Page on Proposed Occidental Land Purchase |
So back on June 24th Occidental had set their bid deadline for July 1st. Then on July 1st Occidental suddenly moved the deadline to July 6th. Also on July 1st, OSLI, not so suddenly (at 2:01PM), announced that there will be a July 6th special meeting to take public comments on the Gordon-land-boondoggle. OSLI also stated they “may convene a closed executive session” during that same public meeting.
Take a moment and let that sink in…
It’s almost as if someone, somewhere suddenly realized they forget about the entire population of Wyoming Citizens. And so they pulled some kind of strings to have Occidental change the bid deadline, and then slapped a public meeting together to pacify the peasants.
From February 18, 2020 to July 6, 2020, 138 days, public comments from Wyoming Citizens were suppressed and ignored.
Thus on July 6th, in the eleventh hour (and 59 minutes), and as an aside, Gordon/OSLI/SLIB finally made the time to allow the little people to speak in a public forum. Immediately after which they went into executive session and unanimously voted to make a bid on the Occidental lands.
The following month in August 2020, Orion Mine Finance won the Occidental bid for $1.33 billion, Governor Gordon was disappointed, and the final payment of $1.5 million was blown to the wind paid to Barclay’s from the State Treasurers office.
The last date that Gordon modified his FAQ Page on the Proposed Occidental Land Purchase is unknown.
That is exactly the level of ethics, respect, honesty, integrity, transparency and accountability that we can expect from Governor Mark Gordon with the Bill Gates/CCP/WY Nuclear Deal.
