Impeachment panel looks at process
State auditor impeachment panel looks at process

By Michael McNutt

Published: February 22, 2008

A House committee looking into possible impeachment proceedings against state Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan held its first meeting behind closed doors Thursday.

Meetings four years ago to discuss the impeachment of then-Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher were open to the public.

That was news to both the House speaker and House Democratic leader.

"Our counsel was that we needed to have those meetings behind closed doors,” said Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa.

Morgan, D-Prague, said he didn't "have a problem” with the meetings being closed.

Both said they though the issue should be looked into.

"I might want to know why,” Morgan said.

"If we'd done this as an open meeting before, why would this be different?”

Rep. Rex Duncan, a former prosecutor and co-chairman of the McMahan impeachment committee, said the nature of the committee's work would seem to be closed.

"Of course an investigation would be closed,” said Duncan, who was not in office when the Fisher committee met.

"No decision's been made,” said Duncan, R-Sand Springs.

Benge later issued a statement that the eight-member committee still is collecting information about the Fisher proceedings and will determine "if this is an apples to apples comparison to the task at hand.”

"We want to make this as public as possible,” Benge said Thursday evening. "We're in the process of trying to find out what the precedent has been and what those legal barriers are if there are any to allowing public access.”

McMahan and his wife, Lori, have been indicted on federal charges of mail fraud, bribery and conspiracy.

If the investigating committee recommends removal, the full House will vote on articles of impeachment, which, if approved, will then move to the Senate for a trial.

The impeachment committee met briefly Thursday and talked about organizational matters, such as whether to hire an outside attorney, Duncan said.

The committee has not set another meeting date, said Duncan, one of three attorneys on the eight-member committee.

The committee will look at whether McMahan violated his oath of office and the responsibilities he swore to uphold as an elected official.

Commissioners are expected to investigate the federal charges filed against McMahan. Another issue could be McMahan's absence from the state job.

After he and his wife pleaded not guilty, McMahan turned over the daily operations of his office to Deputy State Auditor Michelle Day. He still is being paid; his annual salary is $109,248.

Meanwhile, a member of the impeachment committee, Rep. Paul Roan, said Thursday he plans to refrain from commenting publicly until the process has run its course.

"Auditor McMahan is owed due process, diligence and impartiality from the investigating body,” said Roan, D-Tishomingo, who has more than 30 years of experience in law enforcement and was on the committee that investigated and brought impeachment charges against Fisher in 2004.

"Let's not forget that his career and livelihood are on the line here.

"I understand the interest that citizens have in this matter, but I cannot and will not comment publicly until we have fulfilled our duty and the process has been completed.”

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