John Swallow News Roundup - - Episode XXXVII: Utah GOP House Majority Lurches Forward At Its Usual Frenzied Pace

With any kind of luck the legislature can drag this out until 2016, when Swallow will decide not to seek reelection so he can "spend more time with his family"

Lurching forward

More news on the John Swallow impeachment investigation this morning, as House Speaker Becky Lockhart's Utah GOP House majority lurches forward at its usual frenzied pace:

1) "The Utah Legislature will meet in a special session Wednesday to clarify the powers of a special House committee investigating Attorney General John Swallow and create exemptions allowing some of the panel’s work to be done behind closed doors. Gov. Gary Herbert issued the call for the special session Friday evening to resolve potential confusion about the House investigation’s subpoena powers and the applicability of open-meetings and records laws to the committee’s work." GOP legislators are concerned about political blow-back, and, surprise of surprises, are contemplating conducting portions of the upcoming proceedings "behind closed doors":

• Legislature to meet in special session to define powers of panel on Swallow - SLTrib 7/12/13

As one politically semi-alert Trib reader snarkily remarks, "With any kind of luck the legislature can drag this out until [2016], when Swallow will decide not to seek reelection so he can spend more time with his family."

Detritus may stick this time

2) Chewy op-ed from Utah Policy's Bryan Schott, who reels off a list of past Utah GOP scandals and  speculates that "[t]here’s one very big reason House Republicans are moving forward with the investigation of Attorney General John Swallow: 2016. The political shrapnel from the Swallow circus could hit a number of Republican legislators, particularly in Salt Lake County, and open a wound that would be difficult to treat":

• Bryan Schott's Political BS - GOP Scandalmania! - UTPolicy 7/11/13

"Any embarrassing information that should surface during the course of this investigation has the potential to splatter Republicans. More importantly, that detritus may stick this time," sez Mr. Schott.

Update 7/13/13 11:25 a.m.:  More from Bryan Schott:

• How to Fix the John Swallow Problem

"Shurtleff, Swallow and Winder/Burwash. Kinda has a nice ring to it, dunnit?"