Salt Lake Tribune: Texts Reveal Raw Tensions Between Shurtleff, Former Aide

Torgeson: "pissed about the damn stupid things John [Swallow] did"

Thanks to yesterday's story from intrepid Salt Lake Tribune journalist Robert Gherke, check out these amazing internal email messages, recently revealed, concerning our Utah Attorney General's Office, which was obviously in the proceess of "melting down" even during the years of the Mark Shurltleff Utah Attorney General Administration, long prior to the even more didastrous John Swallow administration, a situation which  one savvy social media correspondent descibes thusly:

"It's so special when power-mad Utah politicos/alleged criminals text back and forth like snippy lovers. Dontcha think?"

Here's Mr. Gehrke's lede:

This story and accompanying graphics contain unedited text messages with sometimes-offensive language.
In a frank, pointed exchange last year, Mark Shurtleff’s former top deputy scolded his ex-boss in a series of heated text messages for his "stupid" actions that cast the entire Utah attorney general’s office in a bad light.
"I have spent the last 4 months listening to people shred our offices and [sic] integrity. It has been hell," Kirk Torgensen, Shurtleff’s former top deputy, wrote to the former attorney general in April 2013 as the scandal engulfed the office. "I am pissed about that and the damn stupid things John [Swallow] did. … Shit John made 24 grand on the side and hardly came to work for an entire year."

The sporadic and spirited text exchanges span eight months, during which time Torgensen rails against his former boss for exercising poor judgment and Shurtleff acknowledges making serious mistakes in not taking Torgensen’s advice.

Read the full Trib story here:

• Texts reveal raw tensions between Shurtleff, former aide

Good catch, Mr,. Gehrke, we say. Enightening, to say the least.

Read up, folks.