Former Wagoner County Sheriff Bob Colbert is suing President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for slander over comments made during an online podcast in May.
The Tulsa World reports on a Cato Institute podcast, Scott Pruitt, Trump's EPA pick and Oklahoma's attorney general, alleged that Colbert seized and kept $10,000.
In March, Colbert and Sheriff's Office Capt. Jeff Gragg were indicted and accused of conspiring to elicit a bribe in exchange for not pursuing charges in December 2014.
Now, Colbert says he was slandered by Pruitt.
The lawsuit filed by Colbert says Pruitt had received evidence that the $10,000 wasn't "pocketed." It also says Pruitt's statement was "at least negligent or "made for political purposes."
An Attorney General's Office spokesman declined the newspaper's request for comment on the pending litigation.