This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The plot thickens in the 2nd Congressional District debacle at the recent Republican State Convention. A candidate who had hardly campaigned dropped an 11th hour bomb during his speech, maligning several other candidates — a violation of convention rules — and making his good friend Chris Stewart look like a victim of a cabal.
The candidates named in the so-called plot were shaken and confused and coalesced behind one candidate to prevent what they sensed was a clever ploy to steal the convention nomination.
That backfired and Stewart got the requisite 60 percent of the delegate vote to avoid a primary and become the party's nominee.
But the anonymous anti-Stewart letter, held up by Milt Hanks during his speech as evidence of a conspiracy, remains a mystery. The Republican Party has been trying to track it down and so far has confirmed that only two delegates received it.
Some delegates received a follow-up letter before the convention from the Stewart campaign denouncing the negative letter and promising to stay on a positive message.
The anonymous letter was postmarked April 18. The follow-up letter from the Stewart campaign was postmarked April 19. Political professionals tell me it would be virtually impossible to turn a mailer around that quickly unless those who did it already knew the first letter was about to be mailed and had something prepared in advance.
One letter recipient had moved since 2010, when he also was a state delegate. The negative letter and response letter were sent to his 2010 address, then forwarded to his 2012 address, even though his 2012 address was the one listed on the current delegate lists.
—
Coincidental typo • I wrote in my Sunday column about Mormon code that seemed to emanate from the Stewart campaign at the convention, with some of the other candidates painted as having a cabal (or in Mormon teachings, a "secret combination") and some Stewart supporters chanting "The prophecy has been fulfilled" as Stewart was shown to be a martyr. The coup d'etat was administered when Stewart told the delegates the truth would be confirmed to them — Mormon code, I am told, referring to the Holy Ghost.
That makes two typos printed on the agendas of the Millard County and Davis County convention programs intriguing.
On the agendas of speakers, Chris Stewart was listed as "Christ Stewart."
—
A pattern developing • I wrote recently about Bill Hooper, who had sent an email in March, 2011, to Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, asking him to vote to repeal HB477, the legislation that gutted Utah's open records act. He received a confirmation that his email had been opened in April 2012 — 13 months later.
Then came Cheri Groesbeck who also sent Waddoups an email urging the bill's repeal in March, 2011. She too, received a confirmation that her email was opened — 13 months later.
Now comes John Baun. You know the story. He sent an email urging the repeal in March 2011, and received a confirmation recently it had been opened — 13 months later. But his email didn't even need to be opened for the Senate to get the message. The subject line read: "HB477 — REPEAL IT!!!"
—
VIP breaches • It seems that nobody is immune from the massive cyber attack on Utah health records that compromised the personal information of more than 280,000 Utahns.
Among those receiving letters from the State Health Department offering free credit monitoring were Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and Utah Lt. Gov. Greg Bell.
In fact a debit card in Corroon's wife's name was misused recently, with $800 in unauthorized charges.
But Corroon says that appears to be unrelated to the massive health records breach.The debit card would not have been part of the compromised records.