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From Examiner.com:
But, take heed, there is somewhat of a silver lining. Oklahoma is ranked 27th in “officials convicted in federal corruption cases over the last 10 years” and 25th in “number of guilty officials per capita.” Hey, it’s progress! Read more…
Our friends over at The Lost Ogle have bestowed upon former Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart their “Idiot of the Year” for 2008:
“Anyway, all that really has nothing to do with Brent Rinehart being named the Lost Ogle “Idiot of the Year” for 2008. We just figured that if Oklahoma Today has the right to bestow upon someone an Oklahoman of the Year honor, then we certainly have the privilege to determine who our “Idiot of the Year” should be. And we can’t think of any other Oklahoman who is more deserving of that honor than former County Commissioner and “Roads” scholar Brent Rinehart.” Read more…
Well since The Ogle leans left in their commentaries, we thought we’d name our “Idiot of the Year.” Our hands down pick is disgraced former State Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan. Our runner up has to be McMahan’s wife who is probably going to jail right alongside her husband.
Here’s an excerpt from a January 20th post titled: Sunday Extra: Commentary on Oklahoma’s Bonny & Clyde:
“Here’s one example of their stupidity and greed. Lori McMahan allegedly received a pair of $500 earring as a gift from Stipe. Now, instead of getting rid of the earrings – that you can never wear in public again – she stashes them at her sister’s house! If she wasn’t so greedy, that one less count could have knocked a few years off that long prison term she’s facing.” Read more…
Related:
BREAKING: McMahan & Wife Indicted; OKPNS Predicted It Monday
Michelle Byte over at GetRightOK.com alerted us to a new website she’s started. It’s called www.appointgaryjones.blogspot.com. She says the site will have a link for reader’s to send a message to the governor and she will post “stuff I find elsewhere.” She also plans to occasionally write a few of her thoughts on the site.
“This website is all about doing what is right in this case, and to right the wrong that was done to Gary Jones and to the Oklahoma voters.”
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From the tipline:
It’s the sort of item in a story that escapes most people, but it demonstrates why Oklahoma politics is sometimes considered so backwards and full of cognitive dissonance.
In yesterday’s story from The Oklahoman Reporter Tony Thorton, one of the finest reporters from that formerly important paper, lobbyist Pat Hall is identified as disgraced state auditor Jeff McMahan’s principle political consultant as well as his damage control architect. With all due respect to Mr. Hall, having a lobbyist/political consultant/crisis management person involved in any aspect of your capitol business is idiotic. Hiring a lobbyist, if they are scrupulously checked for conflicts of interests is fine. Having a political consultant is fine. Having a media/crisis management consultant is fine. Having a hybrid of the three or more public affairs subsets is, frankly, stupid. I’ve even have heard of a couple of characters who claim to be lobbyists/political consultants/media-crisis managers/pollsters/advertising agency/PR consultants in Oklahoma, and Oklahoma City have bad reputations for taking their unsuspecting clients for a ride. In fact, several insiders I know roll off the same names of four or five ad agency/PR companies from Tulsa and Oklahoma City as the main public affairs con artist headliners. “You’d think the dummies they keep screwing would eventually learn,” one individual who performs only lobbying services tol me recently.
There’s a name for people who are careless enough to hire someone like the above con artists: fools. I’m sure many of Hall’s clients, and perhaps a hundred more individuals calling themselves lobbyists, have no idea about their other clients. Frankly, it’s time to smarten up.
According to a report in The Oklahoman, former auditor Jeff McMahan’s attorneys are seeking to have four of the nine counts against him and eight of the nine counts against his wife dropped in the case against the couple. Their reasons include the fact that Mrs. McMahan is not a public official, and that, “there’s no clear link between his acceptance of trips from businessman Steve Phipps and the alleged help the auditor later provided Phipps.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers are using the trial’s publicity to bring publicity and, some are hoping, increased funding to for the ethics commission. In KOCO.com report outlining the various funding proposals, Rep. Lucky Lammons (D-Tulsa), pointed out that his, “ethics funding proposal is a tiny fraction of the state’s $7.1 billion budget and it is unreasonable to reject it when lawmakers are willing to spend $500,000 to investigate indicted Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan in connection with impeachment proceedings.”
Video: McMahan 2006 campaign commercial featuring his mother.
“I always raised Jeff to do what’s right.”
“A lot of men would look the other way when money is involved, but not my son.”
Thanks to the attentive readers who brought to my attention that yesterday this story was posted with factual mistakes. As they unanimously pointed out, I had two ongoing stories confused. Please accept my sincere apology. The incorrect information has been corrected, in the title and in the first paragraph below.
As OKPNS previously reported, The Oklahoma House of Representatives voted 100-0 to begin an investigation, which could potentially lead to the impeachment of State Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan, who, along with his wife, Lori, are facing charges of bribery, mail fraud, and conspiracy at the federal level. Eight members of the OK House of Representatives have been assigned to decide whether State Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan should be impeached.
The Democrat Co-Chair of the eight-member impeachment-hearing panel is now reported to have tried to purchase an abstract company from McMahan, but was unsuccessful, because McMahan “declined to deny a permit request for a competing company.”
According to the Oklahoman, David Braddock is denying that the previous interaction between the two men, and his current seat as co-chair of the panel present an ethics issue.
Eight members of the OK House of Representatives have been assigned to decide whether State Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan should be impeached. Those representatives are as follows:
The Oklahoma House of Representatives voted 100-0 to begin an investigation, which could potentially lead to the impeachment of State Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan, who, along with his wife, Lori, are facing charges of bribery, mail fraud, and conspiracy at the federal level.
KOKO 5 in Oklahoma City quotes House Democratic Leader Danny Morgan of Prague, as saying:
The No. 1 item we ran on our agenda this year was ethics. If there’s wrongdoing, it certainly should be investigated. This is probably the most serious issue we’ll deal with this year…This is not a partisan issue. Republicans and Democrats alike should be held accountable to the same standards. That is why we believe that an investigation into the state auditor and inspector is entirely appropriate and necessary.
The Comanche County Chronicle also printed a statement released by Morgan, which added:
Every person deserves their fair day in court. However, it is the Constitutional duty of this body to investigate if any impeachable offenses have occurred. If any unethical behavior has occurred, then the State Auditor and Inspector should be removed from office. We look forward to working with the Speaker and all of our colleagues in the House into investigating the charges brought against Jeff McMahan.
“We need to take the politics out of this situation as much as possible. Considering impeachment of a statewide-elected official is very serious, and we plan to move forward in a bipartisan manner so the charges can be fully reviewed without bias.” - Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa.
Sources are telling the Oklahoma Political News Service tonight that as early as next week, new Speaker Chris Benge will start assigning members to a special investigative committee with full subpoena power.
It is expected that the special committee will ultimately file articles of impeachment against the embattled State Auditor and Inspector.
OKPNS will continue to investigate.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZTAGxhPIuk&rel=1]
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