Two Former GOP Utah Attorneys General Arrested In Corruption Case

As I have asked before, why is it that a disproportionate number of "family vales" and "god fearing" GOP officials seem to be the ones caught up in corruption scandals and criminal indictments.  It is true that here in Virginia we have Democrat Phillip Puckett under FBI investigation, but those soliciting him with bribes were Republicans such as Terry Kilgore.  And, of course, lets not forget GOP former governor Bob McDonald who is facing trial on corruption charges.  The only good news is that Virginia does not have a monopoly on corrupt Republicans.  As Talking Points Memo reports, two former Utah Republican attorneys general have been arrested on corruption charges.  Here are story excerpts:

Two former Utah attorneys general, John Swallow (R) and Mark Shurtleff (R), were arrested in a long-running corruption case on Tuesday morning.

Shurtleff has been charged with three counts of bribery, one count of obstruction of justice, one count of witness tampering, one count of evidence tampering and one count of unlawful acts, according to the Salt Lake County jail's website, Swallow has been charged with two felony counts of bribery, one count of false or inconsistent statements, one count of false government records and one count of unlawful acts.

According to the Deseret News, the allegations surrounding Swallow and Shurtlefff center on their relationship with a Utah businessman, Jeremy Johnson. Shurtleff allegedly used Johnson's private plane to fly to a California fundraiser and to fly to New York to meet with actor Vincent D'Onofrio. Swallow allegedly stayed on Johnson's houseboat and borrowed his Ferrari.

Federal and state law enforcement searched Swallow and Shurtleff's homes in June amid a probe into the state attorney general's office. Swallow had followed Shurtleff in the office, but resigned last year amid several federal and local investigations.

Authorities have been investigating possible bribery, obstruction of justice and misuse of public funds.

I'm not saying that Democrats are perfect, but they seem to get caught up in fewer corruption charges and far fewer cases involving solicitation of gay sex even as they proclaim themselves to be "family values" candidates.  Just saying  . . . .

Virginia GOP Offered Puckett Job Before He Resigned from Virginia Senate

Puckett - a whore by any other name

As the investigation into the GOP's bribing of Sen. Phillip P. Puckett to resign from the Virginia Senate in exchange for a Tobacco Commission job and a judgeship for his daughter continues, it is beginning to appear that GOP denials about the bribery scheme are - surprise, surprise not true.  Some pesky e-mails disclose that the scheme predated Puckett's resignation after all.  The Washington Post reports on the continuing disclosures.  Here are excerpts:

The head of the state tobacco commission warned that the panel would create the appearance of “manipulating” power in the Virginia Senate if it announced that it was hiring Sen. Phillip P. Puckett on the same day he gave up his seat, according to e-mails released Thursday.

Tim Pfohl, interim executive director of the commission, said in a June 5 e-mail to Puckett, a Democrat from rural Russell County, that he had begged Del. Terry G. Kilgore (R-Scott) to delay making it known that Puckett was getting a top staff job with the commission. Kilgore is chairman of the commission.

“Phillip: Terry spoke to us today about announcing your role w/ the Commission in conjunction with what he said is your intention to announce your Senate plans tomorrow,” Pfohl wrote. “I implored him to ‘decouple’ those announcements for the sake of the appearance of the Commission manipulating the Senate balance of power and starting WW3 w/ the Governor’s administration.”

Pfohl went on to say that the commission’s executive committee still planned to meet a few days later to give Puckett the job.

“I mention all this so you know what’s being planned on our end to give this the most defensible appearance of due process,” Pfohl added.

The message is among 74 pages of e-mails that The Washington Post obtained Thursday under a Freedom of Information Act request.

The e-mail messages indicated that the commission was creating the post especially for Puckett, who was asked to help come up with his own job description. The position was to come with state employee benefits, a cell phone and possibly a car, according to the e-mails. The salary was not specified.

Puckett and Kilgore did not respond to messages seeking comment Thursday night. Nor did Puckett’s attorney, Thomas Bondurant. Kilgore’s attorney, Thomas Cullen, declined to comment.

The e-mail trail regarding the job offer begins on May 29, when Pfohl sent a message to Ned Stephenson, the commission’s deputy director. It indicates that Kilgore wanted to tailor a job at the commission to Puckett.  

Obviously, Puckett is a sleaze bag and one can only hope that his daughter does not get her promised judicial appointment.  Meanwhile, let's hope the feds make Terry Kilgore's life - and political future - a living hell.

Southwest Virginia Judgeship Scandals Impact Virginia Senate

One of the drawbacks of Virginia's judicial appointment system is that too often individuals gain judicial appointments based on either who they are related to or due to political cronyism (and how much money one has contributed to politicians).  A case in point is the drama surrounding the Virginia Senate where the GOP regained control of the chamber by bribing a Democrat Senator to abruptly resign with a plum job and a judgeship for his daughter.  Now, the would be GOP candidate for the now open seat has his own judgeship problems, this time involving his sister.  A column in the Richmond Times Dispatch looks at the two scandals.  Here are excerpts:

The Republican candidate in a snap election in Southwest Virginia that will decide control of the state Senate faces the same potential ethical headache that supposedly triggered the resignation of a Democrat, temporarily tipping the chamber to the GOP.

Del. Ben Chafin, like former Sen. Phillip Puckett, has a judge problem.

Chafin’s sister and former law partner is Teresa Chafin, a judge of the Virginia Court of Appeals. She joined the intermediate court in 2012, a year before her brother was elected to the House of Delegates. She faces reconfirmation by the legislature in 2020, when he could be starting his second full, four-year term in the Senate.

Puckett’s daughter, Martha Ketron, is seeking a juvenile and domestic relations court judgeship to which she was temporarily appointed by the local circuit court. He quit the Senate on June 9 because her nomination had been stalled by Republicans. The GOP floor leader said it’s wrong to pick as judges the relatives of sitting senators. Puckett now finds himself ensnared in a federal corruption investigation.

By doing away with an evenly divided, 20-20 Senate, you do away with Democratic control. For that 21st seat, Republicans had to find a weak link. Puckett was among the weakest.

Supposedly to save his daughter’s judicial ambitions, Puckett surrendered, in midterm, a seat in deeply red territory. Puckett practically handed it to Republicans, leaving at the worst time for his party: the finale of the budget and health care fight, when neither side could spare a vote.

It appeared Puckett might get something in return: a high-paying job as the second-in-command of the Republican-controlled tobacco board.

It underwrites new and existing businesses across the tobacco belt with millions of dollars from Virginia’s share of the national settlement with cigarette makers. That board members have access to piles of cash makes them very popular in the economically ailing region — and even more powerful.

Such coziness apparently aroused the suspicions of federal prosecutors. They are now investigating the circumstances surrounding Puckett’s resignation.

The job-and-judgeship imbroglio is at least the third public corruption investigation in Virginia since 2011. The first led to the conviction of Phil Hamilton, vice chairman of the House budget committee; the second, to the indictments of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen.

Just ahead of the mass meeting at which Chafin was nominated, a subpoena for correspondence and records was issued to the tobacco board, according to legal and political sources.

It would apply to the agency’s overseers. Among them: Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott. . . .

Kilgore is lawyering up, hiring Thomas Cullen, a former federal prosecutor in Roanoke. Cullen is the son of the head of McGuireWoods, the Richmond legal behemoth in which Kilgore’s twin brother, Jerry is a partner. The firm is representing Jonnie R. Williams Sr., the diet-pill impresario who showered the McDonnells with thousands of dollars in unreported gifts, allegedly in return for favorable treatment from the state.

Puckett, too, has counsel: Tom Bondurant Jr., a former U.S. attorney in Roanoke. He was lead prosecutor in Operation Big Coon Dog, in which 16 people, including several public officials, were convicted of bribery and fraud in the misuse of federal disaster funds in Buchanan County in 2002.

Twelve years on, another dog is snarling in Southwest Virginia. It’s the latest alarm over the way politicians are doing business in Richmond.

Sadly, in many ways Virginia's legislature still operates on a corrupt 19th century model where members of the General Assemble act more like Boss Hogg or Boss Tweed than Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.  Corruption and cronyism is the name of the game.