Utah Attorney General John Swallow released a letter over the weekend from the State Bar Association, indicating that one complaint against him will not be pursued.
The organization Alliance for a Better Utah filed the complaint with State Bar against Swallow. It alleged that the Attorney General violated the office’s Rules of Professional Conduct on several levels including accepting more than $23,000 for consulting work on a Nevada Cement Plant. Swallow released a letter from the state bar saying that the body won’t pursue this particular complaint. Last month the U-S Justice Department ended an investigation into Swallow's alleged involvement in a bribery scandal. Swallow says the findings of these two investigations should make some people rethink other allegations against him
“Now that the Department of Justice has declined to prosecute and now that the bar has rejected this complaint, I think that people are starting to see that maybe they ought to question more carefully those who are out there making these wild allegations and perhaps consider whether or not they have an agenda,” says Swallow.
The letter from the State Bar Association was addressed to Maryann Martindale, executive director of Alliance for a Better Utah, but Martindale says she never received it. She’s disappointed that the association would not investigate her group’s complaint.
“Their response to us, apparently again because we haven’t seen it, is that well, because you didn’t give us enough information, we’re not doing anything. So it’s not really to say that he didn’t violate the code, it’s to say they haven’t – they didn’t pursue any type of investigation of it,” says Martindale.
The Utah State Bar is still considering a complaint against Swallow filed by former state consumer protection chief Traci Gunderson. Three other groups are actively investigating the Attorney General. They include two county district attorneys, the Lieutenant Governor’s Office and a special committee formed by the Utah House of Representatives.
