New questions arise from John Swallow-Johnson meeting

Scandal » Transcript of Krispy Kreme recording could prove most telling.

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Johnson: No. Not without — well, you might tell Richard to delete sh-- off — to be wary that there could be an investigation and if there’s anything on his server that he doesn’t want the government to have to —

Could these comments spur cries of obstruction of justice? Maybe not.

"Swallow does not agree to do anything like this, so that wouldn’t be an obstruction charge against Swallow," Cassell says. "In any event, a federal obstruction-of-justice charge generally requires specific awareness of a federal investigation."

Cassell acknowledges "the transcript is just one piece of a larger puzzle — there may, of course, be other evidence out there." But, overall, he sees Johnson as trying to entice Swallow into admitting to something that Johnson himself has crafted.

Tolman says there are various things in the transcript FBI agents or an ethics panel would want to investigate.

tharvey@sltrib.com

Twitter: @TomHarveySltrib

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