Arbaugh Linked To Stipe Train Deal

The Oklahoman's Tony Thornton reports today that Tim Arbaugh, former head of the abstract division in the auditor and inspector's office, was involved in successful efforts to secure state money to buy a train owned by former Senator Gene Stipe.

The revelation is another connection between Arbaugh and Stipe, primary target of a federal investigation into campaign straw donors and an abstract company empire Stipe built with southeastern Oklahoma businessman Steve Phipps, also a target of the probe. It's also another indication of Arbaugh's ties to Phipps and the abstract industry he was in charge of regulating.

Arbaugh was fired by Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan after Arbaugh was identified in an FBI affidavit as a straw donor. It is alleged that some illegal donations were made to McMahan's campaign. Arbaugh and his wife (pictured) operate a bed and breakfast, Victorian Garden Inn, in Guthrie.

Thornton reports that Stipe collected $300,000 in state funds for seven railroad cars, which now "sit abandoned on a track near the Guthrie train depot, having never been used for their stated purpose." The money apparently came from the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG). A letter the newspaper obtained shows the cars were owned by Phipps Enterprises, one of Steve Phipps' operations in which Stipe allegedly was involved.

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