Shurtleff went to FBI in Oct. over Utah AG allegations

Shurtleff went to FBI in Oct. over Utah AG allegations


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff this week shed new light on bribery allegations made last month against new Attorney General John Swallow.

Shurtleff said he told federal investigators last October about those allegations made by St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson.

"It was going to come out, so I felt like the Feds ought to know," Shurtleff said in a phone interview from Washington, D.C. The former three-term Republican attorney general now works for an international law firm in the nation's capitol.

Shurtleff said he met with Johnson and then talked with Swallow, not long before Swallow won the November election.

Shurtleff also went to the FBI. He says Swallow may have used bad judgement, but he does not think his friend and former colleague broke the law.

"I'm confident that at the end of the day, that his innocence will be proven," Shurtleff says of his former chief deputy attorney general.

In October, as Swallow campaigned to succeed Shurtleff as the state's top lawman, Johnson contacted Shurtleff.

Story highlights:
  • Shurtleff told federal investigators last October allegations against A.G. Swallow made by Jeremy Johnson.
  • Shurtleff doesn't think Swallow broke the law.
  • Johnson contacted Shurtleff in October to ask him to convince Swallow to drop out of the race.
  • Shurtleff met with Johnson and Swallow, ultimately determining there was no evidence of a crime, "at least on a state level."
  • Swallow maintains Johnson's allegations are false.

Shurtleff did not do that, but he did meet with Johnson.

"He wanted to report to me what he thought were improprieties on John's part," he said. "So, of course, I'm interested in knowing what these allegations are."

When they met, Johnson let Shurtleff listen to a secretly recorded meeting between Johnson and Swallow. During the meeting between Johnson and Swallow, the two talked about a financial deal in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would get a payoff to derail a Federal Trade Commission investigation into Johnson's Internet marketing company, iWorks, in 2010.

Swallow said last month that he only introduced Johnson to his friend and former employer, Richard Rawle, who had connections to federal lobbyists who could tell Johnson's side of the story. Johnson and an associate paid Rawle $250,000, but the FTC shut down iWorks before any lobbying was done.

After Shurtleff met with Johnson, he questioned Swallow, and concluded: "There's no evidence of a crime, at least a state crime. But, I guess there's potential for federal."

So, he met with FBI agents before and after the Nov. 6 election in which Swallow beat Democratic Weber County Attorney Dee Smith.

Related:

"As a law-enforcement official, I felt like I had a duty to notify federal authorities, even though it was very difficult for me to do that," Shurtleff says. "He's my chief deputy, he's my friend."

On the Doug Wright show today, the former AG admits a lot of the evidence that has surfaced does not look good for Swallow.

"It does not pass the smell test. But, I said, 'I know John Swallow. I know him. He's not the kind of guy that would ever even consider a bribe, or any other crime.' "

"If everything I've been told by him and others is true, then he'll be cleared," Shurtleff added.

Shurtleff says he feels bad about the cloud that the allegations have cast over the attorney general's office. He feels bad for the investigators and attorneys who serve the state every day.

Swallow maintains Johnson's allegations are false.

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Jed Boal

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast