SALT LAKE CITY (Legal Newsline) -- The U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah last week confirmed that newly-elected Attorney General John Swallow is being investigated for allegations that he helped make a federal investigation into a St. George businessman go away.
Jeremy Johnson is accused of running a multi-million-dollar fraudulent software scheme in which he billed hundreds of thousands of consumers for products they never ordered.
He has alleged that Swallow arranged a deal to pay U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to stop a Federal Trade Commission investigation into his business.
Swallow, a Republican, was elected in November to succeed Mark Shurtleff. He took office earlier this month.
In a statement to the Deseret News Friday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah confirmed Swallow is being investigated in coordination with the Department of Justice and the FBI.
Typically, the DOJ and the U.S. Attorney's Office does not confirm investigations; however, an exception was made in this case "because of the extraordinary public interest in this matter," according to the statement.
A spokesman for Swallow told the newspaper that the investigation was a "good" thing, saying the attorney general "wants the facts to be known as much as anyone else."
Spokesman Paul Murphy also said Swallow has no plans to resign.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.
Feds: New Utah AG under investigation
