LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I’m Karen MacBeth, the outgoing House District 52 state representative, and former chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee that tackled 38 Studios. While I’m not seeking re-election, Rep. Lauren Carson’s recent false statements regarding my tenure, and her decision to halt the Oversight Committee’s 38 Studios investigation, require me to set the record straight.
In a recent editorial, Rep. Carson defends her decision to halt further Oversight Committee hearings into 38 Studios by falsely claiming that I “resigned” from the committee, and that this was a “great disservice” that “ended the House activity on 38 Studios” for the year. This is a patently false and misleading attempt by Rep. Carson to deflect responsibility from her own failures on 38 Studios.
As Oversight Committee chairwoman, I oversaw numerous 38 Studios hearings, and put my heart and soul into finding justice. It was I who notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of potential fraud with the 38 Studios securities, which was followed by multiple ongoing SEC fraud charges against key players.
Our progress is of no credit to Rep. Carson. Indeed, she was continually unprepared for our Oversight Committee hearings, and slowed progress with questions that were easily resolved by our written materials or addressed in previous hearings – which she clearly had not read or followed. These machinations are on Capitol TV for all to see.
Our committee’s efforts to probe deeper into 38 Studios were continually stymied by Democratic leadership – despite their promises to investigate and get answers.
Given these broken promises, and a host of other issues that put the special interests above the taxpayers, I switched political parties.
I was then promptly removed from the Oversight Committee by the speaker.
I did not resign as claimed by Rep. Carson. My replacement, along with Rep. Carson, then halted the committee’s 38 Studios investigation. I am certain the investigation could have continued after my removal, but there wasn’t the will to do so. Where was the representative’s voice when this was occurring?
Silent.
Soon thereafter, we tried to appoint an independent prosecutor in order to seek the truth. That proposal too was killed – with Rep. Carson joining leadership to vote it down.
As elected officials, we must take responsibility for our actions. It is regrettable that Rep. Carson seeks to place blame elsewhere for her failure to do justice for the taxpayers on 38 Studios.
The residents of District 75 deserve a representative who will stand up for the people – not another politician who remains silent and then attempts to cast blame elsewhere.
Rep. Karen MacBeth,
R-Cumberland
