MUSKOGEE — Records from Clifton Scott’s last two political campaigns tend to validate at least part of a claim made Wednesday on the witness stand by the prosecution’s star witness, Steve Phipps.
Phipps claimed that he channeled money into the former state auditor’s campaigns beginning around 1988 and ending in 1998, the last time Scott ran for office.
Earlier this year, The Oklahoman pulled Scott’s campaign records from a warehouse near the Capitol to see whether Phipps attemped to buy influence with Jeff McMahan’s predecessor.
Those records show thousands of dollars in contributions from the same people who Phipps said acted as straw donors, at his request, for other campaigns. Many of them worked for Phipps’ abstract companies.
Phipps claims Scott, like McMahan, knowingly took the money and provided special favors to benefit his abstract companies, which the auditor’s office regulates. Both Scott and McMahan deny that claim.