Press Release from the office of Corey Maclin
July 22, 2010


Desperation Politics Yields Strange Bedfellows at Mashburn Campaign

Setting the record straight:

The Corey Maclin for Shelby County Clerk campaign has learned from multiple sources that corrupt Memphis politico and two-time convicted felon Joe Cooper has been contacting local media attempting to spread misleading and outright fraudulent information pertaining to Corey Maclin.

Joe Cooper, with business ties to the Wayne Mashburn campaign, is referred to by wrestler Jerry Lawler as his “good friend”. When Lawler recently filed a purely political, groundless lawsuit against Corey Maclin for allegedly selling wrestling video belonging to Lawler, it was Joe Cooper who personally filed that lawsuit which was designed to benefit the Wayne Mashburn campaign. Lawler was out of town at the time.

The wrestling videos belonged to Corey Maclin’s company, and Lawler and Cooper know it. Their purely political intention was to hurt Maclin to help Mashburn.

When Lawler recently started a new wrestling TV show, he chose Joe Cooper as his business partner. Cooper, also a well known associate of the late, disgraced Outdoor tycoon Bill Tanner (another convicted felon) is no stranger to charges of bribery, money laundering, political payoffs, and even working with drug dealers. Now he is selling commercial time on Lawler’s new wrestling show.

And it’s no surprise that one of Cooper’s clients, Wayne Mashburn, has political ads running heavily in the program even though the show’s seriously anemic ratings provide no marketing justification for any advertiser.

The Maclin campaign also has in its possession a completely fraudulent document that was mysteriously presented to WMC-TV supposedly purporting to document Corey Maclin being evicted from an apartment earlier this year. Maclin’s forged signature on the document bears absolutely no similarity to his authentic one.

When Corey Maclin decided to leave the Wrestling business behind, it was a major change in direction. When he first announced his plans to run for Shelby County Clerk, Jerry Lawler jumped in to support his long time friend and sometimes business partner. He even made a glowing endorsement video for Corey to play at his fundraisers.

While Lawler wanted to play a role in the Maclin campaign, Corey had serious reservations with some of the people Lawler had begun associating with (convicted felon Joe Cooper for one). Also, since Corey had moved away from the wrestling business, he decided that the whole wrestling image did not need to be a part of his campaign. It wasn’t rejecting Lawler or wrestling, but rather focusing on his future political image in the quest for Shelby County Clerk.

To touch on a couple of issues that have been brought up: The Boyle Investment case has long been resolved. Corey Maclin countersued their wrongful lawsuit and it was then settled out of court in 2005. This was omitted in the Commercial Appeal article. While it’s true that the IRS filed a tax lien against Maclin in 2003, it was also released later that same year, something else omitted from the Commercial Appeal.

Even though politics is what it is, it’s still unfortunate when desperate actions take place such as those being committed in behalf of the Wayne Mashburn campaign. Joe Cooper’s criminal political past brings to mind the current investigation at the Shelby County Clerk's office involving more than a dozen employees with eight state criminal charges of bribery.

County Attorney Danny Presley called it “a pervasive culture of political and familial entitlement” in which favors were routinely dished out to politicians and businessmen as well as friends and family.

Wayne Mashburn has been Inventory Manager at the County Clerk’s office since 2007, when he was hired by his long time friend, Debbie Stamson. He says he’s a “frontline manager delegating work assignments for title clerks, and assisting clerks at all offices”.

A frontline manager surrounded by scandal and corruption? If he knew about it then he’s a part of it. If he didn’t know about it then he’s incompetent. Having Debbie Stamson as a good friend surely couldn’t have hurt Mashburn as the full extent of the scandal unfolded.

And now Mashburn wants to continue at the County Clerk’s office by replacing Debbie Stamson as the next Shelby County Clerk. More of the same won’t fix this problem! Little surprise that Joe Cooper has made his appearance on the scene too. A perfect match.

Shelby County deserves better. Vote Corey Maclin and save the Shelby County Clerk’s office from continued corruption.


For More Information contact:
Corey Maclin at 258-9804

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