Abegail Cave, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kevin Stitt, told The Frontier Wednesday that Oklahoma Secretary of Energy and Environment Ken McQueen, fired by Stitt during a hearing on Tuesday, had actually submitted his resignation in November. Stitt, Cave said, had warned McQueen about being involved in the poultry hearing.

“It was not abrupt,” Cave said about Mc-Queen’s firing. “It was made clear to him he should not be engaging in this poultry lawsuit situation. He did anyway. So we just sped up the process a little bit.”

Cave sent McQueen’s resignation letter, in which he said he planned “to pursue an opportunity back in industry.”

“He (Stitt) felt as if this lawsuit was trying to retroactively change rules and hold business owners responsible for a new set of rules 20 years later,” Cave said.

Cave said Stitt had made it clear to Mc-Queen to not take part in the lawsuit in any way. “He actively chose to go against those instructions and show up to court yesterday.”