[UPDATED] Candidates for Utah Attorney General: Brent Ward

[Updated 4:55 PM 12-11-2013: Added letter from Ward dropping out of the race (embedded below).]

[Updated 1:40 PM 12-10-2013: Added letter from Ward to GOP SCC regarding Swallow relationship (see below).]

[Updated 10:00 AM 12-10-2013: Added statement from Steve Urquhart at Ward’s request (see below).]

[Updated 3:30 PM 12-5-2013: Inserted updated comments by Steve Urquhart regarding Ward’s connections to John Swallow (see below).]

Brent Ward  is a candidate for appointment by Governor Gary Herbert to replace Utah Attorney General John Swallow, who resigns December 2. This is the third of a series of brief profiles on the individuals who are known to be considering running for the AG spot. As information on each individual comes out, I’ll update the profiles here. 

U.S. Attorney Brent Ward is an experienced litigator with a long history as a prosecutor and a resume that seems to indicate he is well-connected to run for Utah’s next attorney general. A former candidate for the US Senate and an experienced federal prosecutor, there is much in his resume to support his campaign for the Utah Attorney General’s office.

Here’s the “Profile” from his resume (and find the full resume below):

• Currently prosecute federal white-collar crimes

• Task Force Director, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice

• Senior Vice-President, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer, Huntsman Corporation

• Two terms as presidentially appointed United States Attorney for Utah

• Nineteen years’ service in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government

• Twenty-seven years as a trial lawyer

• Fifteen years as a federal prosecutor

• Nine years in private law practice

• Co-founder and operator of a Utah technology business

Currently, Ward is a trial attorney with the  Criminal Division of the  U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and assigned to assist in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.  In the past he has worked as the Director of the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force, also a part of the DOJ, where he was proclaimed by the Salt Lake Tribune as “among the most strident adversaries of the porn industry as U.S. Attorney in Utah in the 1980s” and won one of his biggest victories against “Girls Gone Wild” for failure to document the age of the girls in the porn videos.

Prior to the DOJ, Ward also held positions with in the private sector going back to 1992 when he ran for the US Senate (he was mentioned as a contender for the spot before then as far back as 1987). Ward’s anti-porn work in the 1980s prominent in his 1992 campaign for the Senate.

More recently, Ward was the prosecutor at the center of a January plea deal for Jeremy Johnson, one of the accusers of John Swallow.  According to the Tribune:

A federal court hearing Friday in which St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson was to admit guilt to two felony charges ended when prosecutors balked at placing a list of people into the record that Johnson said prosecutors had promised not to indict if he entered a guilty plea.

Included on that list were Johnson family members, business associates, friends — and Utah Attorney General John Swallow.

Johnson granted The Salt Lake Tribune access to emails, documents and other records that appear to support what Johnson said was an effort in 2010 initiated by Swallow, then chief deputy attorney general, to enlist U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to stifle a federal investigation into his I Works online marketing company.

While Johnson said he believed Swallow had done wrong, he still wanted to protect Swallow from possible prosecution. Johnson said a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against himself and I Works plus a criminal charge had ruined his life and he did not wish the same fate on Swallow.

Not surprisingly, Ward’s connection to the plea deal that would have given Swallow immunity from prosecution has more than a few people wondering about his connections to Swallow. Senator Steve Urquhart, citing a City Weekly article (“Brent Ward, Prosecutor in Johnson Case, Wants to be AG “) just last week expressed his incredulity on his Facebook page.

Because of the controversy that seems to be arising around Ward, I’m very curious to see how members of the Republican State Central Committee react. Ward clearly has sterling credentials and extensive experience. However, his connections to the Swallow scandal may be a liability to his campaign to win the Utah Republican Party’s State Central Committee (“SCC”) nod and recommendation to Governor Gary Herbert (the  SCC will send three names).

These connections could become even more of a liability during the special election next year when Democrats will seek any opportunity to make the most of their first chance at statewide office, and the Attorney General’s office, in over a decade.

[UPDATE]: Since the Senator Steve Urquhart made the above Facebook post, he’s had some further thoughts. Although the entire conversation is evolving, I thought it appropriate, since Urquhart was specifically cited for the critique, that his updated thoughts be shared here, as well:

 [Update]: At Ward’s request, please see the following comment from Urquhart: “Brent Ward is qualified to be Attorney General, and I have no opposition to his candidacy. People who know him well (and people who I deeply respect) report that he is of outstanding character.”

I can’t imagine the attention that Ward has given to this considering the evolution of Urquhart’s statements above, but I think it bears noting that Urquhart has shifted.

As always, if you see anything missing from the above, please feel free to message me or add it in the comments, and I will update as I can.

Brent Ward for Immediate Release

Brent Ward Letter regarding relationship to John Swallow

Nov. 2013 Brent Ward Combined Resume

Related articles

• With Swallow out, the list of hopefuls to replace him is long (publiusonline.com)
• Candidates for Utah’s AG: Bret Rawson (publiusonline.com)