Utah House Minority Leader Brian King says the Democratic caucus and leadership aren’t choosing sides in the dispute between Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and his former campaign manager Justin Miller. Miller represents District 40 in the Utah House.
The Salt Lake City Police Department is investigating Representative Miller’s alleged theft of thousands of dollars from Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams’ re-election campaign. Miller, who served as McAdams campaign manager and later as his Deputy Mayor denies the allegations and calls it retaliation for whistleblowing.
Representative Brian King says he and other democrats in the legislature are eager for the investigation to run its course.
“We’re certainly standing behind Representative Miller in the sense that we are not casting him out or coming to any conclusions or judgments about the validity of the accusations that have been made until we have more information,” King says.
King says at this point, there’s little evidence to prompt him or other lawmakers to file a complaint against Miller and potentially launch an ethics investigation against the freshman democrat.
“I think the first question that has to be answered is to what extent do our legislative processes have the ability to look into actions that arguably could reflect on a person’s fitness to hold office, but that occurred before the individual became a state legislator,” King says.
Miller accused McAdams of campaign finance violations and retaliation in a notice of claim delivered to Salt Lake County in December. Miller was fired from his position in the Mayor’s office in August.
Davis County District Attorney Troy Rawlings will determine if charges against Miller are necessary.
