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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
Debbie Dujanovic reporting
Kelly Just, producer He's Utah's top law enforcer -- prosecuting fraud, going after the bad guys, fighting for consumers. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has tackled big issues, but it's another issue that got him fired up today. Was it OK for him to take free concert tickets from a big company with a legal case in Utah or a free flight to a tropical island from another special interest group?
The perks and gifts Shurtleff accepted were perfectly legal under Utah law. But it's raised concerns and brought us to this question: As Utah's top lawyer, should Mark Shurtleff accept such freebies?
By the time the Rolling Stones tour hit Salt Lake in 2005, more than 1,700 Utahns could "get no satisfaction" out of their mortgage company, Ameriquest, accused of deceiving customers, inadequate loan disclosures, and inflated appraisals.
Attorneys general across the country sued Ameriquest that year. Two months before a settlement was signed, company disclosures show Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff -- along with several state legislators -- accepted food and concert tickets from Ameriquest. The freebies were worth about $800 to Shurtleff alone.
"The Rolling Stones concert was sponsored by Ameriquest. They had these tickets and said, ‘Do you want to go to the Rolling Stones?' And I took my daughter, and we left after the third song because she hated it," Shurtleff said.
Shurtleff points out lawyers for other states handled settlement negotiations, not him. Utah got involved a month after he took the tickets, and jilted Utah homeowners eventually got nearly $2 million back.
"Maybe that would be of concern, if I chose after that not to sue them or not to join in the litigation, maybe that would be something. But we were tough, the A.G.s have been tough on the sub-prime industry," Shurtleff said.
We went back to see him after learning about another freebie: a national association representing payday lending companies paid for his plane ticket. Shurtleff accepted an invitation to give a speech at the group's conference last spring at a luxury resort in the Bahamas.
"They paid for my flight and I decided, ‘Hey, I'm going to the Bahamas. I'm going to take my family. So I took them at my expense, and it actually cost me a lot of money to take my family on a trip," he said.
State records show that in the last three years, Utahns have filed 120 complaints against payday lenders, but Shurtleff says, "There have never been any criminal complaints or allegations filed against a group like that -- and why not let them pay my trip?"
Shurtleff says such perks don't influence his decisions. We also asked legal and political experts to weigh in. One attorney who lectures about conflicts of interest, told us he was troubled Shurtleff accepted the concert tickets from Ameriquest and indicated that an attorney general's responsibility is to the people, not private business.
Bryson Morgan reviews ethics issues for the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the U of U. He said, "With these types of cases, perception is reality. The assumption many voters have is if their elected official is traveling to the Bahamas and speaking at this convention, then he or she is going to be more likely to side with them."
He suggested Shurtleff reimburse both organizations. In the end, Shurtleff said, "In order for me to buy into this, the whole nature of your investigation, I have to accept your proposition that campaign contributions buy things for people. And until you can show me the case where that's happened with me, we're done talking."
Again, we need to point out that Mr. Shurtleff did nothing illegal by taking the gifts. But the issue of elected officials receiving perks from lobbyists and others continues to be the subject of heated debate, and experts told KSL that it is also more common for lobbyists to target attorneys general and lawmakers.
