Dank: McMahan Should Vacate Office
Rep. David Dank (R-Oklahoma City) today introduced a resolution urging State Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan to vacate his office until all questions surrounding an ongoing ethics investigation are settled.
"There is a cloud over the office of the State Auditor," Dank (pictured) said. "I do not believe Mr. McMahan should resign unless and until he is accused of a crime, but he can help remove this cloud if he will simply recuse himself from the duties of his office until the full story has been told. This is the office that monitors and investigates other areas of state government. It cannot function when the head of that office is under suspicion of unethical conduct."
Dank's House Resolution 1030 would ask Gov. Brad Henry to appoint an interim head of the state auditor's office during McMahan's absence. If McMahan is ultimately charged and convicted of a crime, he would be permanently stripped of the office. If no criminal proceedings result from the investigation, he would return to his full duties.
McMahan has fired the chief of his abstract division, Tim Arbaugh, in connection with the ongoing federal and state investigations of ghost campaign donations, many of which apparently went to McMahan from sources close to former Senator Gene Stipe (D-McAlester), his abstract company partner Steve Phipps, and the abstract industry. Most recently, the fired abstract chief was again linked to a Stipe-Phipps-connected deal involving the sale of railroad cars to an entity using state funds.
House Resolution 1030 notes that McMahan "is frequently mentioned as a principal party" in the federal investigation "by virtue of the substantial campaign contributions and paid trips provided to him by key figures targeted in the grand jury investigation."
House Resolution 1030 declares the controversy "tarnishes"McMahan's credibility and "further jeopardizes public trust in state government."
"The smell gets worse every day. Stipe, Phipps and their cronies keep popping up every time you lift a new rug, and the people of Oklahoma deserve to know that the state auditor's office is clean and above suspicion," Dank said. "That cannot happen as long as Jeff McMahan sits in that office spending most of his time trying to fend off a series of grand jury investigations."
"There is a cloud over the office of the State Auditor," Dank (pictured) said. "I do not believe Mr. McMahan should resign unless and until he is accused of a crime, but he can help remove this cloud if he will simply recuse himself from the duties of his office until the full story has been told. This is the office that monitors and investigates other areas of state government. It cannot function when the head of that office is under suspicion of unethical conduct."
Dank's House Resolution 1030 would ask Gov. Brad Henry to appoint an interim head of the state auditor's office during McMahan's absence. If McMahan is ultimately charged and convicted of a crime, he would be permanently stripped of the office. If no criminal proceedings result from the investigation, he would return to his full duties.
McMahan has fired the chief of his abstract division, Tim Arbaugh, in connection with the ongoing federal and state investigations of ghost campaign donations, many of which apparently went to McMahan from sources close to former Senator Gene Stipe (D-McAlester), his abstract company partner Steve Phipps, and the abstract industry. Most recently, the fired abstract chief was again linked to a Stipe-Phipps-connected deal involving the sale of railroad cars to an entity using state funds.
House Resolution 1030 notes that McMahan "is frequently mentioned as a principal party" in the federal investigation "by virtue of the substantial campaign contributions and paid trips provided to him by key figures targeted in the grand jury investigation."
House Resolution 1030 declares the controversy "tarnishes"McMahan's credibility and "further jeopardizes public trust in state government."
"The smell gets worse every day. Stipe, Phipps and their cronies keep popping up every time you lift a new rug, and the people of Oklahoma deserve to know that the state auditor's office is clean and above suspicion," Dank said. "That cannot happen as long as Jeff McMahan sits in that office spending most of his time trying to fend off a series of grand jury investigations."
Labels: Campaign Finance Scandal, David Dank, Gene Stipe, Jeff McMahan, Steve Phipps
posted by Mike McCarville @ 11:29 AM
<< Home