You are here: Home / Election 2012 / What Does the John Swallow Debacle Say About Utah?

What Does the John Swallow Debacle Say About Utah?

January 17, 2013 by 15 Comments

Since the Salt Lake Tribune broke the story about John Swallow’s troubling connections to disgraced philanthropist Jeremy Johnson last Saturday, calls for Swallow’s resignation have trickled in.  Over the last 24 hours, that trickle has become more of a flood.  It seems like everyone agrees that Swallow’s got to go.

I commented after my initial post that I didn’t think this would take him down, unless it got more messy (which it has).  Well, now we’ve got other federal investigative targets associated with Swallow and a deathbed affidavit that appears to have been prepared in a panic and has done nothing but make the scandal worse.  The whole thing stinks of an amateur hour attempt at Chicago-style pay to play politics.

I’m revising my opinion.  Swallow’s done.  The sooner he realizes it the better for all concerned.  There are plenty of attorneys in Utah (and within the AG’s office) who would do a fine job as Attorney General.  Let’s get one of them in and move forward.

But while we should all be happy that we’re about to be rid of John Swallow (provided we keep the pressure on), we should also be quite concerned.

Utahns — and especially our state delegates — really need to ask themselves . . . how in the world did this guy get elected?  Because it’s not as if any of this should have taken us by surprise.

Daniel Burton of PubliusOnline, put up an excellent post this morning summarizing John Swallow’s political career in headlines — none of which were positive.  The only news the average Utahn had about John Swallow was about sketchy campaign tactics, a history of inappropriate lobbying procedures, and exaggeration regarding his legal abilities.

The information was front and center for everyone to see.

And plenty of people saw it, believe me.

Most of my Republican political associates saw it.  My attorney friends saw it.  In fact, every attorney I know opposed John Swallow for AG — regardless of whether they supported Dee Smith (the Democratic candidate) or Sean Reyes (the primary opponent).  Folks, it was really almost that universal among the man’s peers!

I opposed him repeatedly.  So did many, many others I know.  Swallow’s primary opponent, Sean Reyes, raised concerns in an official complaint (which was covered in the press) and got ridiculed for playing dirty — oh the irony!

But maybe we didn’t speak up loud enough, because the man nearly skated through convention as the GOP choice without a primary in a system that’s designed to be an equalizer for qualified candidates without money or name recognition.

Maybe people just don’t care about the race for attorney general when they’ve got a Presidential election and race for U.S. Senator.

But regardless of whether the position of Attorney General is as politically sexy as Governor or Senator, a man with John Swallow’s track record should not have gotten elected.  It’s a black eye for the state and undermines the good work done by the attorneys at the AG’s office — even the good work (and I’m sure there was some) done by Swallow himself as a Deputy AG.

I know many of liberal friends are talking this week about dominant party democracy and LDS political hegemony.

But I think we all just need to talk about law enforcement, ethics in politics, and out state’s very troubling refusal to engage with these issues on any adequate basis.  Because, people, if we (and I’m speaking broadly here) can’t even do our homework on a guy with issues as obvious as John Swallow’s, then situations like this are going to be the predictable end result.

What does this debacle say about Utah?  It says we’re too complacent when it comes to demanding transparency and upright conduct in our political leaders . . . even though we talk about it an awful lot.

We need to do two things.

First, we have a legislative session coming up, and we need to demand action from our legislature to put in place safeguards designed to reduce the likelihood that this happens again.  Second, and more importantly, we need to hold ourselves and our our neighborhood representatives accountable.  If you had a state delegate who voted for John Swallow you need to ask them why, and if you can’t get a satisfactory answer, well, then, you know what to do . . . .

Lets keep on this one.

 

 

IF YOU LIKED THIS, YOU MIGHT LIKE:

Filed Under: Election 2012, Law, News, Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
About Curt Bentley

is an attorney practicing commercial litigation, non-profit law, and intellectual property law in Utah at his firm Bentley Briggs & Lynch. In his spare time, he attempts to impersonate a jazz pianist, gardens, and dodges rattlesnakes and stirs up other trouble while running on Utah's amazing trails.

You can learn more or connect with Curt on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

Feel free to use or re-post content with proper attribution.

  • http://publiusonline.com Daniel B.

    Wait, you expect us to change our system to avoid this kind of thing from happening?!

       0 likes

    • http://www.utahpoliticalsummary.com/about/ Curt Bentley

      Not necessarily the system. But I have a post planned on some of the things proposed for this legislative session and maybe some things we can do to try and tighten things up a little and send signals.

      More important, though, is just being adequately engaged and concerned. Because he shouldn’t have been elected regardless….

         0 likes

  • http://publiusonline.com Daniel B.

    Also, a good piece. Thanks for staying close to this issue, Curt.

       0 likes

  • Joel Coleman

    Curt, I really enjoy your writing and I’m glad I discovered your blog. Here are my thoughts, respectfully:

    Here’s why I have a problem with the newspapers’ immediate calls for resignation: there should be a very high standard required to reverse the will of the people. Appointees, like the governor’s cabinet members or an assistant AG who works for an elected officer, not so much. I think they can be dismissed immediately when there is legitimate controversy. But invalidating the voice of the people based primarily on the flimsy allegations of an admitted federal criminal is not an action to be taken lightly or impetuously. “Distraction” or discomfort (as other bloggers have bemoaned) while the pieces are sorted out hardly qualifies as a legitimate standard for overturning an election.

    In truth, I’m more uncomfortable with the pitchforks and torches at this early knee-jerk stage than I am with some temporary political “embarassment.”

    Don’t get me wrong. I’m not condoning bad behavior, nor will I support any elected official based on blind loyalty. But as an elected official myself, I expect the benefit of the doubt from my constituents unless verifiable legal and ethical facts demand otherwise–and I’m willing to do the same for other public servants, on both sides of the aisle. With the current media feeding frenzy it’s not going to take long, so I prefer not to be so impetuous. Things will sort out and the truth will emerge.

       0 likes

    • WEK_Esq

      @Joel: I think you make a valid point with which I largely agree. Knee-jerk reactions driven by media and speculation are inappropriate. And I think Curt’s post aligns with your point given that its focus is less on forced resignation than it is on making sure corrupt officials aren’t elected to begin with.

      But another thing you said caught my eye: “I expect the benefit of the doubt from my constituents”. Why?

         0 likes

    • http://www.utahpoliticalsummary.com/ Curt Bentley

      Joel:

      Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.

      I do generally agree with what you’re saying, and your perspective as an elected official is valuable. I often joke, with respect to embarassments that happen in the practice of law, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” There’s a lot of truth to that statement, and it should give us some pause before running someone out of town based on some newspaper articles.

      However, in this case, the evidence about Swallow was there from the start, and, isn’t, I don’t think, particularly flimsy. I had grave reservations about the man’s ability to do the job from the start, and, with this, any ability he had has been (in my opinion) totally undermined. He needs to go. And we need to deal with the process that put him in office in the first place.

         0 likes

    • http://publiusonline.com Daniel Burton

      Due respect Joel, but these are hardly “flimsy allegations.” Rather, these are allegations that have been following Swallow for his entire career (shameless plug: check out my blog at PubliusOnline for a post last night that lays out headlines over a ten year period showing Swallow’s behavior is nothing new).

      As an attorney, we should be worried that this is how Swallow does business. Do we want the state’s chief legal officer taking donations–and so many donations–from the very people who he should be prosecuting? And then try to hide the fact?

      I don’t think so. Legal? Perhaps. Questionably ethical? Yes. Flimsy? Definitely not.

         0 likes

  • WyrdestGeek

    “What does the . . . debacle say about Utah?” I’ll tell ya what it says. It says that, for quite some time now, Utah’s chief export has been call center fraud. And two of that fraud’s main enablers have been Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow:
    “It was a well-known practice among Utah’s booming call-center industry,
    said former business owner Ryan Jensen, that if you wanted to thrive,
    you had to give money to Shurtleff and, after that, Swallow.” (quote from article on Salt Lake Tribune named “Regulators go after another Utah attorney general donor”
    http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile2/55644923-218/shurtleff-swallow-johnson-business.html.csp

    This is much more than just something that’s a bit politically embarrassing. This is corruption of the highest order.

       0 likes

  • elforesto

    You ask the question how Swallow pulled the wool over the eyes of caucus attendees to even get that far, and it’s the same way he did it with the primary voters: a well-funded marketing campaign. The high caucus attendance by so-called “moderates” (whatever those are) meant caucus attendees were more like the general voting public: ill-informed and easily persuaded by marketing.

    The entire point of the caucus is that the most informed folks who know the inside ball (as, apparently, all of your lawyer friends did) are the ones who show up and are supposed to keep scoundrels like Swallow out of the game to the benefit of the general public. Instead, we ended up with a lot of newcomers to the entire political process who were completely and totally unaware of Swallow’s long history, then got wowed by his slick pitch and high-power endorsement by the current AG.

    I hope folks who are pushing for a more “open” selection process for party nominees will bear this in mind next time. Both caucuses and open primaries can be gamed, but at least the caucus provides the possibility of circumventing the piles of money that candidates may bring to the game. It only works, though, if we get the most aware people in those positions.

       0 likes

    • cgb9

      I’ve expressed my concerns and downright opposition to the caucus system before. I still have concerns, but I’ve come around a little bit. You make good points.

         0 likes

    • http://publiusonline.com Daniel Burton

      To be fair, i spoke with several delegates who were definitely not new to the process, raised the concerns with them, and they threw various objections at me ranging from “we know John Swallow and he’s conservative” to semi-racist comments about Sean. They were people who had been delegates in the past, but had come back out because Hatch recruited them.

         0 likes

  • Brittany Bowen Burton

    Great article, thanks for your thoughts! I was very troubled with how delegates and then republican primary voters seemed complacent with Swallow and some of the questionable allegations he already seemed to have against him before he was elected AG. Unfortunately, I think this whole debacle makes people who should get more involved in the political process completely disenchanted and turned off from it. They adopt a, “they’re all corrupt” attitude and choose American Idol or ESPN over becoming informed voters.

       0 likes

    • http://www.utahpoliticalsummary.com/ Curt Bentley

      Brittany:

      Thanks for the comment! It’s nice to hear from Dan’s better half :)

      It is sad that this whole fiasco could just end up making things worse, but we hope against hope, right?

         0 likes

      • http://publiusonline.com Daniel Burton

        Truly…she is the better half.

           0 likes

  • Pingback: Aaron Christner Cares