Lawmakers to add Swallow investigation to interim meeting talks


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SALT LAKE CITY — A recent round of bad publicity for Attorney General John Swallow is sparking a series of meetings this week at the Utah Legislature.

Even though Swallow hasn't been charged with any crime, he is spending at least part of every day since taking office defending himself. Sources on Utah's Capitol Hill say Swallow is calling Legislators, eager to give his side of the story.

Lawmakers are expected to add those discussions to regularly scheduled interim meeting as soon as Tuesday. Some lawmakers are eager to get the discussion rolling and are interested in Swallow's operation of the office he's heading up.

"The more rumors, the more innuendo, the more stories out there, has to be affecting the entire office," said Utah Senate Majority Leader Ralph Okerlund. "That's important to the entire state. We obviously need a strong Attorney General's office."

Concern over the operation of the Attorney General's office itself could be the tipping point for lawmakers on how to proceed with possible impeachment proceedings.

Swallow has been tied to federally indicted businessman Jeremy Johnson. He is also the subject of a state investigation into not properly disclosing campaign contributions — a separate ethics complaint with the Utah State Bar for a relationship with a man charged with fraud.


It makes it very difficult for him to do his job, which is to investigate other people who have done something wrong. That cloud of suspicion is absolutely disabling for him.

–Kirk Jowers, Hinckley Institute of Politics


Last week, a man convicted of fraud said Swallow and former Attorney General Mark Shurtleff enjoyed luxury vacations on his tab because he thought he would get special treatment with his case.

Kirk Jowers, with the Hinckley Institute of Politics, said true or not, the allegations are crippling to the state's top cop.

"It makes it very difficult for him to do his job, which is to investigate other people who have done something wrong," Jowers said of Swallow. "That cloud of suspicion is absolutely disabling for him."

There are mixed feelings among lawmakers about what to do next, but Okerland shared Jowers' sentiment regarding Swallow. If something isn't done at the federal level soon, he said, lawmakers will begin their own talks.

"The questions are rising, you know, how effective can Mr. Swallow be in a job with all the accusations out there and all the things that are flying around," Okerlund said.

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Richard Piatt

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