McMahan Under Increasing Pressure To Step Down?

Facing his first federal court appearance on nine criminal counts next Friday, Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan is under increasing pressure to take a leave of absence or resign, several sources tell The McCarville Report Online.

McMahan's attorney said last week he will not step aside despite calls from fellow Democrats Governor Brad Henry and Attorney General Drew Edmondson that he do so.

There is word that former Auditor and Inspector Clifton Scott is among those who have counseled McMahan, Scott's longtime protege, to at least take a leave of absence and turn the operations of his office over to a top deputy and his staff.

A veteran Democrat member of the State Senate, who asked not to be quoted by name, said he is aware of several other top Democrats who have told McMahan that, given the seriousness of the charges against him and his wife, Lori, he should step aside and devote his time to defending himself. The senator said he participated in a Saturday conference call in which it was suggested the participants and other Senate Democrats send McMahan a personal letter urging him to take a leave of absence; the senator said no decision on that suggestion was reached.

Another Democrat senator told TMRO he is not aware of such a conversation, although there have been "numerous conversations" among Democrat senators about the indictments and the allegations that McMahan misused the power of his office and took cash from abstract company owner Steve Phipps: "It's just so...disheartening," the senator said. "It's just another huge black eye."

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