Grand jury hears testimony on Boren

A criminal investigation of David Boren entered a new phase Wednesday when the state's multicounty grand jury got involved.

Grand jurors heard from witnesses about the retired University of Oklahoma president for the first time.

The testimony comes 16 months after the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation began looking into accusations made against Bor en and a former OU vice president, Tripp Hall. The OSBI reported in a search warrant request last year that “it was alleged that Boren and Hall in appropriately kissed and touched former and current students and employees of the

University of Oklahoma.” Both deny wrongdoing.

“I' m pleased that we' re reaching a point of finality and conclusion to this,” said Boren's attorney, Clark Brewster .“Of course, we don' t know who the witnesses are but we know what the truth is. And we have great confidence that in these kinds of matters the truth will come out and ... President Boren will be vindicated and the nightmare will end.”

Boren, 79, is a former governor and U.S. senator who became president at OU i n 1994. He retired in 2018 and ended any further affiliation with the university last year.

Grand jurors hear testimony one to three days a month in Oklahoma City at the attorney general's office. Their sessions are closed to the public and their investigations can take months.

Putting on the testimony was Pat Ryan, a former U.S. attorney who prosecuted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. He agreed last year to serve as a special counsel over the Boren investigation.

He was seen once Wednesday by a reporter in a restricted area of the attorney general's office.