The scandal that has been bubbling around Utah Attorney General John Swallow (R) since January has suddenly started to boil — and may result in his leaving office.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Swallow is expected to submit his resignation by week’s end, and possibly sooner, “in the face of mounting investigations and a report expected from the lieutenant governor’s office that could result in his ouster.”
That news comes concurrently with the news that Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox’s office is expected to soon release a report concluding that Swallow failed to report business interests and income on financial disclosure forms. The report was reportedly set for release on Thursday, but could be postponed if Swallow leaves office.
In an earlier story published on Wednesday, the Tribune cited two anonymous sources who said the report will recommend action against Swallow, which could ultimately involve asking a judge to invalidate Swallow’s election.
The report comes in response to a complaint filed in March by a left-leaning group, Alliance for a Better Utah. That complaint alleged that Swallow’s disclosure forms contained twelve violations. Ultimately, the lieutenant governor’s office deemed three of the allegations worthy of further investigation.
Among the allegations in the original complaint were that Swallow tried to conceal his ties to a company, P-Solutions, and $23,500 in payments he received from Richard Rawle, the late owner of a Utah payday-loan company. According to the Tribune, that money came from a Utah businessman, Jeremy Johnson, who had hired Rawle to help him avoid a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit.
Earlier this year, Johnson accused Swallow of helping broker a 2010 deal where he believed he was to pay Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) $600,000 to make a federal investigation go away. The Tribune first reported on Johnson’s allegations in January, just days after Swallow was sworn in to office. Swallow denied any wrongdoing at the time.
On Thursday, Cox, the lieutenant governor, spoke openly about the possibility of Swallow’s resignation.
“If there was a resignation, we’d probably have to kind of re-evaluate at that point, but we’re still planning to move forward unless I hear otherwise,” Cox told the Tribune, referring to his office’s plans to release the report.
