John Swallow

For the English oceanographer, see John C. Swallow.

John Swallow
20th Attorney General of Utah
In office
January 7, 2013 – December 3, 2013
GovernorGary Herbert
Preceded byMark Shurtleff
Succeeded bySean Reyes
Member of the Utah House of Representatives
from the 51st district
In office
January 1997 – January 2003
Preceded byShirley V. Jensen
Succeeded byGreg Hughes
Personal details
Born (1962-11-10) November 10, 1962 (age 62)
San Gabriel, California, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseSuzanne Seader
Children5
EducationBrigham Young University (BA, JD)
WebsiteOfficial website

John Swallow (born November 10, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who served as Attorney General of Utah.[1] Just prior to serving as attorney general, he served as Chief Deputy Attorney General overseeing all civil litigation for the state of Utah.

Swallow has been a lawyer since 1990 and was a member of the Utah State House of Representatives from 1996 to 2002. In December 2009, John Swallow was appointed Chief Deputy Attorney General for Utah. While serving as Chief Deputy, some of his most prominent projects included the fights to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and to gain state control of Utah's federally controlled lands. In November 2012, Swallow easily won the election for Utah Attorney General by a 64 to 30 percent margin.[2]

In November 2013, following federal and state investigations into alleged improprieties, Swallow resigned, after less than a year in office,[3] while proclaiming his innocence and denying all wrongdoing.[4] Swallow and his predecessor, Mark Shurtleff, were arrested in July 2014 on corruption charges. In March 2017, a jury acquitted Swallow of all charges.[5] Thereafter, following an extensive review of all evidence in all investigations and according to a letter dated July 16, 2017, the Utah State Bar absolved John Swallow of any ethical violations.[6] In September 2019, the Utah State Legislature, by nearly-unanimous votes, approved a $1.5 million damages payment, reimbursing Swallow for his legal fees.[7] Thereafter a licensed private investigator asserted publicly that all investigations of John Swallow's conduct had been orchestrated by politicians who benefitted from the false allegations.[8]

  1. ^ http://attorneygeneral.utah.gov [bare URL]
  2. ^ "Utah Election Results Retrieved August 8, 2013
  3. ^ '[1] Retrieved Nov 22. 2013
  4. ^ Romboy, Dennis (December 2, 2013). "Utah A.G. John Swallow: 'No way to convince people I'm innocent'". Deseret News Publishing Co. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  5. ^ Jury finds former Utah AG John Swallow not guilty on all counts Retrieved March 2, 2017
  6. ^ "Defending John's Honor". John Swallow. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  7. ^ Wood, Benjamin (September 17, 2019). "Utah lawmakers will pay ex-A.G. John Swallow a $1.5M settlement". Paul Huntsman. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  8. ^ ❌Utah Attorney General's Political Assassin Tells All., retrieved November 16, 2021