In a letter to the mayor, Yocom wrote Monday that, "It is the conclusion of this office that no criminal acts occurred in the solicitation or expenditure of public funds for the 'Message to Torino Project.' "

Yocom was investigating the trip - an Olympic-related goodwill journey - at the request of the county's Republican Party, which accused Anderson of misusing public funds because Anderson brought his friends and his girlfriend on the trip and the city reimbursed some of their expenses with private donations. The county's Democratic Party chimed in, agreeing an investigation was warranted.

While taxpayer money was initially expended for some of the trip costs, it was reimbursed with private funds so that no city funds were used for the $136,715 trek.

Yocom's letter said his office conducted a preliminary inquiry, interviewing "a number of witnesses, reviewing relevant financial records, documents, Salt Lake City policies, procedures, ordinances and Utah statutes."

Anderson issued a statement late Monday, calling the trip an "astounding project" - team members biked the message from Salt Lake City to New York City and then picked it up in Belgium and biked it to Italy.

The mayor complained the trip received little attention by the news media in Utah and added, "One must also lament that politics has reached such a low level that some have tried to score partisan political points by besmirching the extraordinary efforts and sacrifices of several people who achieved such a great feat on behalf of Salt Lake City."

James Evans, chairman of the county's GOP party, was going after Yocom as much as he was Anderson by calling for the investigation. Evans believes Yocom, a Democrat, had a political vendetta when he investigated former County Mayor Nancy Workman, a Republican, for misusing public funds when Workman had bookkeepers hired to work for her daughter at the South Valley Boys and Girls Club. Workman was acquitted of two felony charges in February.

"He protects his friends and punishes his enemies," Evans said of Yocom on Monday night. "This is far from over," he added, saying he would take his complaints about Yocom to the public.

Salt Lake City Council members had questions of their own about Anderson's Turin trip, from how the mayor picked his teammates to what contracts the private donors had with the city. Devine Racing donated the most money, at $45,000. It produces a marathon, for which the city pays $50,000 in police overtime costs. The city also recently let Devine Racing move the marathon date from April to June, taking over the date traditionally reserved for the Salt Lake City Classic 5K and 10K races.

City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton said she never thought the mayor had committed a crime. "Everybody's ready to kind of move on," she said. "Most of the questions that went to the county attorney came more from the Republican Party."

As part of a tradition for Winter Olympic host cities, Anderson and others delivered a message this summer of "peace, youth and the environment" without using fossil fuels to Turin, the 2006 Winter Olympic host. The European bicycle leg of the trip included Anderson; his girlfriend Tracy Lyon; Deputy Mayor Rocky Fluhart; and Fluhart's wife, Gretchen; Anderson's friends and bike racers, Bill and Celia Underwood; and Sarah Wright, executive director of Utah Clean Energy. The U.S. leg included Jeff Niermeyer, deputy director of the city's Public Utilities Department, and Park City resident Marc Wangsgard.

The city attorney had cleared the Turin expenses before the trek, saying reimbursing the noncity employees' expenses was legal.

Yocom's Turin probe came on the heels of other financial controversies in the mayor's office. The City Council ordered an outside audit to analyze whether the mayor violated city policy or state law by authorizing the expenditure of $636,000 to build a monument honoring organ donors at the Main Library without council approval. Taxpayers may have to pay for half the monument tab if private donations aren't raised.

Anderson violated city policy by spending taxpayer money on alcohol while entertaining guests during the city's jazz festival last summer. Anderson ended up changing that policy to allow the purchase of alcohol, he reimbursed the city the money, and he announced he would post all of his city credit card statements online for the public to view.

Evans had also asked Yocom to investigate Anderson's alcohol purchases. Yocom's letter didn't address that issue and Yocom said he wouldn't comment to the media.