Farbman Hopkins and Associates abandoned its contract with the governor Nov. 9, the same day The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the company had been hired to lobby on behalf of Envirocare, a low-level radioactive waste landfill.

"Just to be sure there will be no appearance of anything questionable, they resigned," Farbman and Hopkins public relations consultant John Becker said Thursday. "They just thought it was the right thing to do."

Greg Hopkins and Max Farbman offered their resignation in a phone conversation with Huntsman attorney Mike Lee. In a letter two days later, they formally severed their ties to Huntsman's Special Initiatives Office - his political action committee - and the Utah Policy Partnership, his think tank. The professional breakup didn't become public until Thursday.

Farbman and Hopkins are high-powered consultants to Utah Republicans. They have raised money for several former governors and recently were hired to do the same for the state GOP. At the same time, the firm developed a wide-ranging lobbying business with clientele including the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCU), Suitter Axland and Dave Checketts' Cable Sports Network. But their decision to take on a new, controversial client apparently was enough to rupture their relationship with Huntsman.

"They offered their resignation. It was not forced," said Huntsman spokesman Mike Mower. "This was their professional decision and we accepted it when it was offered."

Mower said the governor and his former fundraisers will remain friends.

Farbman made his reputation in Utah as a Republican fundraiser and strategist. Hopkins is a longtime adviser to U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett and former executive director of the state Republican Party. Their relationships with Huntsman go back years. Both men advised on the governor's 2004 campaign. And Huntsman appointed Hopkins to oversee his transition once elected.

After Huntsman took office, Farbman and Hopkins were put in charge of fundraising for the new governor's special projects, including the Partnership, a nonprofit organization meant to introduce private-sector efficiency standards to state government. By this summer, they had raised $75,000 from a handful of corporations, including Micron Technology, Workers Compensation Fund, America First Credit Union and Jazz owner Larry Miller. Farbman and Hopkins donated office space for the think tank.

In addition to their jobs as fundraisers and advisers to Utah's governor and lobbyists for Envirocare, Farbman and Hopkins have other business contacts that could have created more questions for the governor. In a Nov. 17, 2004, letter to the University of Utah, the Washington-based lobby firm Dutko Group called Farbman Hopkins and Associates their "Utah-based partner firm." Soon after taking office, Huntsman closed Utah's Washington office and hired Dutko to lobby Congress and the Bush administration to keep high-level nuclear waste out of the state.

In a separate Sept. 3, 2004, letter to the U., Farbman and Hopkins listed EDCU as one of their clients. The governor's senior adviser for economic development, Chris Roybal, was in charge of EDCU while advising Huntsman during the gubernatorial campaign. Farbman had been a founder of EDCU. Huntsman has since shut down the Division of Business and Economic Development and awarded the approximately $500,000 contract to handle state business recruiting to EDCU.

Government watchdog Claire Geddes said Farbman and Hopkins' connections show the problem with lobbyists having multiple clients with potentially competing interests.

"That's what's troubling with these lobbying firms. A lot of times they'll be working for two different groups and sometimes they have conflicting interests," Geddes said. "I'm glad there isn't a connection [between Huntsman and Farbman and Hopkins] anymore."

Huntsman chafes at the suggestion that he is influenced in any way by his political connections. "Only the paper is trying to make the connection," he said.

The governor has rejected any suggestion of links between the Nov. 9 revelation about Farbman and Hopkins' Envirocare contract and his announcement a day later that he had decided to block the radioactive waste disposal firm's expansion plans. At the same time, he was clearly troubled by the potential conflict of interest his fundraisers' new client posed. Earlier this week, he confirmed the consultants' fundraising contract was in jeopardy, but did not disclose until Thursday that their nearly week-old resignation letter had been accepted.

"Anyone can be a friend," the governor said. "But professional relationships are important to evaluate as you go forward."

Attorney Jim McConkie, a member of Citizens Against Radioactive Waste, credits the governor for cutting the tie.

"There are all sorts of people who cuddle up to politicians. You never know what their motives are," said McConkie, a Democrat. "When the governor has been faced with these kinds of ethical questions, he seems to be sensitive, recognizing the conflict of interest and distancing himself from it."

walsh@sltrib.com