John Swallow Political Corruption Update: Keeping Mr. Swallow's Swirling Multi-ring Circus of Problems at Least Somewhat Straight

The latest on Attorney General John Swallow's continuing legal troubles, slavishly collected by your ever-resolute blogmeister while the rest of you were slaving away in your office cubicles

As our Weber County Forum readers wrap up another work-week, here's the latest on Attorney General John Swallow's continuing legal troubles, slavishly collected during the week by your ever-resolute blogmeister while the rest of you were no doubt slaving away in your office cubicles.  We've organized this week's stories by category, in the hope you'll all be able to keep Mr. Swallows swirling multi-ring circus of problems at least somewhat straight:

1) Proposed Recall Law

Weber County legislator Lee B. Perry (R) is rolling up his sleeve and getting into the act, according to Tuesday's Salt Lake Tribune story which reports that our own District 29 state representative "would like to amend the state constitution to give voters the ability to remove an elected official from office — a position brought to the forefront amid the scandal involving Attorney General John Swallow":

• Swallow saga amps up push for a recall provision

2) Proposed Impeachment Proceedings

Trib columnist Peg McAtee throws in her own editorial 2¢, with a Wednesday column opining that "[g]iven the myriad allegations of misconduct against Attorney General John Swallow, it’s appropriate that Utah lawmakers are talking about impeachment hearings":

• Peg McEntee: Lawmaker is right — it’s time to talk Swallow impeachment

And not to be left out in the cold, Utah Democratic Party has finally whipped up a better-late-than never "unified" public position statement and now (surpise of surprises) formally jumped aboard the "off with his head" bandwagon:

• Democrats call for formal probe of Attorney General John Swallow 

With talk of impeachment raging away in all corners, the Trib's Bob Gehrke reports that Swallow has been engaged in preemptive tactics,  putting the arm on Utah legislators at private locations... and in a surprising logistical twist, not at the usual Krispy Kreme donut shops: 

• Swallow reaching out to lawmakers who may be asked to impeach

Not everyone's overjoyed about the prospect of a Swallow impeachment, as we learn from UtahPolicy.com's Bob Bernick:

• Legislative Republicans Playing with Fire with Impeachment Talk

And for a graphic overview of the mechanics of Utah's impeachment process, check out this handy flowchart, provided by one of our sharp-eyed and alert friends over on Facebook:

Click to enlarge image

  
3) Alleged Elections Law Violations.

Aptly noting that "[t]he truth is, everyone on this side of the political game knew about Shurtleff’s quid-pro-quo dealing" even twelve years ago, Alliance for a Better Utah's Maryann Martindale, plaintiff in Swallow's pending election law violations lawsuit, observes that with Swallow already a known quantity, and as Shurtleff's hand-picked successor, there's no room for any lumpencitizen complaining at all:

• With Swallow, we got what we deserved

And for those who'd believed that retaining independent private lawyers to act as publicly-paid special counsel in the looming John Swallow election violations case would lure out hordes of dedicated and competent law firms to serve the cushy 2-year gig, a frustrated Mark Thomas, chief deputy for the lieutenant governor’s office is learning that filling the special prosecutor position is no piece of cake:

• Swallow probe: Choosing a special counsel could be tricky

And while we're still on the subject of that special counsel appointment, we'll put the spotlight on yesterday's highly informative Marissa Lang story which explains all the special prosecutor "nuts and bolts"

• Q&A about the special counsel probe of Attorney General John Swallow

That's it folks.