VanMeter claims feds got help from state attorney general's office

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Federal prosecutors deny claims by former Deputy Health Commissioner Brent VanMeter that they got help in their investigation of him from the state attorney general's office.

The attorney general's office was defending VanMeter in a 1998 civil lawsuit filed by a former nursing home operator.

VanMeter's complaint was unsealed yesterday. It asks that the bribery indictment against him be dropped or that federal prosecutors be disqualified from prosecuting him.

VanMeter was fired two days after his May Second arrest for allegedly soliciting a bribe from Wewoka nursing home owner Jim Smart. Smart and VanMeter were indicted May 17th and are to be tried together in a federal trial scheduled in October.

Many details of VanMeter's complaint remain sealed.