This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

Forty-nine months ago, watching Utah Chief Justice Matthew Durrant administer the oath of office to newly minted Attorney General John Swallow, I remember feeling angry.

As Swallow stood there, pledging to "support, obey and defend" the Constitution of the United States and Utah, I knew even then his actions had violated that public trust and betrayed the oath he was taking.

Now, on the eve of a trial on multiple felonies, ranging from bribery to evidence tampering to accepting gifts, the last chapter is at least starting to be written in the twisted saga that laid bare the machinations of money and power and showed us that, yes, even in Utah, we are not above political corruption.

If recent court hearings are any indication, the trial is sure to be something of a spectacle in itself and offer more than a few twists.

The testimony of Marc Sessions Jenson, a pivotal witness, that House Speaker Greg Hughes was among the guests of Swallow and then-Attorney General Mark Shurtleff at his Southern California mansion in Pelican Hill is sure to cast doubt on Jenson's already shaky credibility.

During our reporting, I interviewed Jenson for a total of about five hours, at the Beaver County Jail, the Utah State Prison and the Davis County Jail, and pushed him for any details he might have had on the development of a Utah Transit Authority FrontRunner station in Draper, but he never mentioned that Hughes or former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were at his Newport, Calif., villa.

Since his testimony in court, Hughes has gathered proof — bank statements, social media posts and the like — to disprove the testimony.

It comes off as a silly gambit by Jenson and Swallow's defense attorney will likely take Jenson apart on the stand, jeopardizing the charges related to the Pelican Hill trips.

Other pieces of the case, however, will be harder to explain away.

Like the deals that were cut with payday lenders and his pledge to be their mouthpiece; the moving of money around in gold coins and prepaid cards; the free rides on a luxury houseboat and a private jet; the use of "burner" phones, the erasing of computer hard drives, the "loss" of various electronic devices; the creation of bogus documents to try to cover his tracks.

Put into a larger context, the trial of John Swallow will be an important barometer of what we expect from our elected leaders, and how much they can push the boundaries of corruption.

In the past year, we have seen the criminal case against Shurtleff dropped. We have seen the conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell tossed out and the Supreme Court setting an almost impossibly high bar for federal prosecutors to prove in corruption cases.

So when Swallow goes before a jury, it will also test the integrity of our institutions, which for the most part have performed well.

From the news media perspective, I couldn't possibly be prouder of the work The Salt Lake Tribune did to bring these issues to light, particularly the efforts of Tom Harvey and Dave Noyce, the captains of our team on the five-year journey, as well as the reporting done by Jennifer Dobner, other Tribune staffers and City Weekly.

The lieutenant governor's office and the Utah House, rather than glossing over the allegations against a fellow Republican, conducted thorough, in-depth investigations into the matter and uncovered the alarming details of the destruction of evidence.

Now it's the court's turn. Hopefully, justice — whatever that looks like — will be done and Utahns can close the book on the state's biggest political scandal.

Or at least move on to the next three years of appeals.