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SANDY — Embattled Utah Attorney General John Swallow made a surprise appearance Saturday in front of fellow Republican leaders, asking for their patience as the allegations against him are investigated.
“I feel really badly for the firestorm that’s out there right now and I can imagine how many of you must feel about that,” Swallow told members of the state GOP central committee at their quarterly meeting.
He repeated his belief that he will be exonerated and said if he felt otherwise, he would not put his state, family and party through this situation.
The attorney general — the subject of federal, state and local investigations including a new probe by the Utah House — said he has done everything he could to mitigate their impact.
“I’m proud to be the attorney general,” he said in closing, receiving seemingly polite applause just as he did when he was introduced to the Salt Lake Community College auditorium filled with some 200 Republicans.
Swallow said he was “humbled” by the decision of House Republicans to launch a legislative investigation into the impact the allegations have had on the public’s trust in the attorney general’s office, rather than begin official impeachment discussions.
He said he hoped the work of the legislative committee that will investigate him, set to be determined at a special session of the House on July 3, wouldn’t be “too duplicative” or too expensive.
I felt like they deserved to hear from me about any questions they may have had. I think people want to hear from me and they want to see how I'm doing.
–John Swallow, Utah Attorney General
During his speech, he distributed a copy of a two-sided memo sent Tuesday to lawmakers refuting some of the allegations made, including that he helped broker a deal for an indicted Utah businessman seeking to halt a federal investigation into his company.
“Consider the source,” Swallow said of the allegations, which come mainly from that businessman, Jeremy Johnson, and an imprisoned swindler, Marc Sessions Jenson.
All state officials are expected to update the central committee members, which include party leaders from around the state, at their meetings. Many officials, however, send surrogates to speak.
Swallow’s spokesman, Paul Murphy, said on Friday that the attorney general had not decided whether to address the meeting.
“I felt like they deserved to hear from me about any questions they may have had,” Swallow told reporters after his brief presentation. “I think people want to hear from me and they want to see how I’m doing.”
He said he thought he was “received really warmly."
