This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

LDS Democrats are joining the chorus of critics urging Rep. Jason Chaffetz to investigate recent revelations about ties between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government, but they're doing so with a unique twist:

They're quoting Mormon scripture.

In a Thursday news release, LDS Dems of America, boasting chapters in Utah and several other states stretching to North Carolina, refers to a verse from Doctrine and Covenants Section 134 — a declaration of beliefs about government spelled out by the early LDS Church in 1835 — that calls on "all men [to] step forward and use their ability in bringing offenders against good laws to punishment."

Chaffetz, a Mormon Republican from Utah who heads the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "has an important stewardship to act in this regard," the release notes, "and he is shirking that responsibility. It isn't enough to keep the door open for an investigation. It is time to act. The consequences of inaction are immense."

So immense, the group warns, that the "Constitution and national security are at stake" along with the "safety and liberty of all Americans."

For his part, Chaffetz is worried about national security as well, including the intelligence leaks that are generating so many headlines.

A Salt Lake Tribune story notes that he has asked the Justice Department's inspector general to probe the dissemination of information about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's contacts with a Russian ambassador.

On Thursday, the five-term Utah congressman, along with his committee's top Democrat, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, sent a letter to the speaker's bureau that had booked Flynn's appearance at a gala in Moscow.

Chaffetz also has demanded the White House answer questions about Trump's handling of classified materials after news reports emerged of him using the middle of a country club restaurant to discuss a North Korean missile test.

LDS Dems of America is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Polls show U.S. Mormons are overwhelmingly Republican.

David Noyce