Bad news for newly sworn-in Utah Attorney General John Swallow, who stands accused by "[e]mbattled St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson" of "help[ing] broker a deal in 2010 in which Johnson believed he was to pay Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid $600,000 to make a federal investigation into Johnson’s company 'go away.' But when the federal government filed a lawsuit Johnson thought he had paid to quash, he demanded Swallow return some of the $250,000 initial payment. Then, just days before the Nov. 6 election, Johnson engaged in a frenetic but unsuccessful effort to get Swallow to drop out of the race, saying information about what Johnson called a "bribe" would come out and force the Republican’s resignation if he became attorney general."
Swallow "emphatically denies Johnson’s allegations," of course, and sez "he doesn’t understand why Johnson is spreading lies about him." "Any suggestion by Mr. Johnson that I have been involved in illegal or inappropriate activity regarding his FTC case or any other matter is false and defamatory," Swallow said.
Needless to say, Swallow's party-partisan political opponents smell blood in the water...
And in a totallly fascinating twist of fate, the Trib has begun playing the part of the civil prosecutor, "freezing Swallow's testimony," pursuant to series of pointed informal psuedo-interrogatories:
Pull up your Barca-loungers and pop up a batch or two of Orville Redenbachers, folks, as we predict this developing story is gonna be lots of fun in the weeks to come.
6 comments:
Indeed. Some suggest it will be swept under the rug. I don't see too many TV reporters interviewing witnesses. Someone has them on a short leash.
It needs the US Attorney General to look into this since it also may involve Sen Reid.
Is Mr. Swallow more upset about being accused of possible bribery or possibly bribing a Democrat?
I don't know if there's any substance to the allegations or not. After all, the guy claiming Swallow was his bag man is hardly a trustworthy witness. However, Mr. Swallow does admit to several meetings with Mr. Johnson designed, Swallow insists, merely to help him hire DC lobbyists. A cliché seems aporopriate here: "you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas." Come to think of it, didn't Mr. Swallow's predecessor as AG have a problem with meal meetings with a Utah businessmamn at the time under investigation by the state for some sort of business fraud?
I am still waiting for Donald Trup to hold a news conference to annnounce he has new evidence that will solve this story.
It's ok to do this, because he is a republican. Laws were only made for democrats.
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