Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller, is being questioned about a trip he billed to Texas taxpayers less than a month after taking office. Miller claims he went to Oklahoma on state business, but evidence points to Miller receiving a controversial medical procedure, instead. While the commissioner claims he paid for both the trip and the procedure himself, budget records requested by The Houston Chronicle tell a different story. According to the article, taxpayers were billed at least $1,120 for the flight and rental car used to transport Miller and one of his aides on the trip.
The $300 so-called medical procedure was for an anti-inflammation shot provided by John Michael Lonergan, who calls himself, “Dr. Mike.” Lonergan refers to his procedure as the ‘Jesus Shot’ and claims it will, “take away all pain for life.”
Lonergan came to Oklahoma after losing his medical license in Ohio due to his conviction for felony tax evasion.
Miller steadfastly maintains that he made the trip to visit with Oklahoma lawmakers and tour the Oklahoma National Stockyards before a meeting with Agricultural Chief, Jim Reese. A photo of Miller supposedly confirmed this meeting with Oklahoma representatives and was posted to the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Facebook page. The men photographed with Miller, however, claim they had not invited him for a meeting, or even expected his visit that day. One of the men went so far as to describe the ‘meeting’ as nothing more than a brief chat started in the hallway.
The tour of the stockyards appears to have been similarly exaggerated by Miller’s office. When pressed on the issue, Miller admitted he had just stopped by and looked around for a few minutes. He also failed to attend the meeting he’d requested with Jim Reese, saying he and his aide had gone to the wrong place. The meeting wasn’t rescheduled.
While Miller continues to say that he never used taxpayer’s money to travel to Oklahoma, the Texas Agriculture Department did eventually provide documents detailing the trip for a public records request. The records, including the rental car receipt, had been excluded from the initial response and were only supplied after they were specifically requested.
When asked in an interview if the ‘Jesus Shot’ had worked Miller said that, “it’s worked out good.” In an email, spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said:
“…out of an abundance of caution the commissioner is reimbursing the state for the cost of the trip.”
h/t RawStory
Featured image screengrab via YouTube.
