This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
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House report's key findings
Key findings in the Utah House Special Investigative Committee report include:
• Former Utah Attorney General John Swallow virtually hung a "for sale" sign on his office door that invited moneyed interests to seek special treatment and favors.
• Swallow allegedly embarked on a campaign to erase emails and wipe clean or dispose of data on electronic devices he used at the office and in his personal life.
• Swallow provided "unique access" to St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson while Johnson contributed to campaigns and provided Swallow use of a houseboat and planes. That access included what appears to be Swallow's blessing when he was chief deputy attorney general for Johnson to process online poker payments at SunFirst Bank.
• Swallow made a "secret promise" to support the payday loan industry in exchange for campaign donations but then led a wide-ranging effort to conceal the sources of those funds.
• Swallow, with support from consultant Jason Powers, created a string of nonprofit entities to receive campaign donations from the payday loan industry and conceal their origin.
• Evidence suggests Swallow, with assistance from then-Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, harmed thousands of Utah homeowners when the attorney general's office dropped a lawsuit against Bank of America in return for favorable treatment of a Swallow campaign donor.
• Swallow fabricated evidence to try to cover the origin of monies he received from payday loan businessman Richard Rawle, who in turn had received the funds from Jeremy Johnson's I Works company and an employee. The money was for an effort to stall a federal investigation into I Works by allegedly enlisting the help of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
• Swallow may have improperly participated in decision making by the attorney general's office in the case of convicted fraudster Marc Sessions Jenson. As a campaign fundraiser for Shurtleff, Swallow participated in an effort to obtain a lenient outcome for Jenson, who says he had paid tens of thousands of dollars to a Shurtleff confidant.