utah attorney general

Mark Shurtleff Arrested by FBI and Charged With Bribery and Other Felonies

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mark-shurtleff-mugshotBack in 2008, I wrote several articles about the suspicious activities of Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. Specifically, I questioned the campaign contributions her received from Pre-Paid Legal Services (now Legal Shield), a company that I suggested was a thinly veiled pyramid scheme. I also criticized campaign contributions from Overstock.com.  Then there was the whole thing with DigitalBridge.

It took some time, but it appears that the law may have caught up with former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff at last. Mark Shurtleff was arrested this morning along with another former Utah Attorney General, John Swallow.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune: Continue reading

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff: More Suspect Campaign Contributions

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This isn’t the first time (and won’t be the last time) that a contribution to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff’s campaign fund is followed by questionable activity. The latest allegations of impropriety involve  a computer consulting company called DigitalBridge.

On September 29, 2008, AG Shurtleff wrote a letter on his office’s letterhead to the National Association of Attorneys General, endorsing the services of DigitalBridge and providing the company’s contact information. This doesn’t sound like a big deal unless you consider that on September 18, 2008, DigitalBridge made a $10,000 contribution to Shurtleff’s campaign. Continue reading

When Money Talks, Mark Shurtleff Listens

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How much does it cost to get Mark Shurtleff, Utah’s Attorney General, to lie for you? Apparently only $5,000. What a bargain!

Today Sam Antar has an enlightening piece on his blog, entitled “Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) CEO Patrick Byrne Pays Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to Defame a Blogger.” It details a situation in which a $5,000 Overstock.com campaign contribution to Shurtleff was followed immediately by public lies by Shurtleff. And there’s plenty of evidence to support the claim that Shurtleff blatantly lied. Continue reading

More Interesting Mark Shurtleff News

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Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff keeps providing interesting material for bloggers. Two weeks ago I wrote about the campaign contributions Shurtleff receives from multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) like Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) and Pre-Paid Legal (NYSE:PPD), and his support for weakening laws against pyramid schemes in Utah. This is important because it is my contention that most MLMs are pyramid schemes in disguise, and that the government can and should enforce anti-pyramiding laws against them.

And of course, there was the whole situation in which Shurtleff lied about Sam Antar. Sam’s a convicted felon who travels around the country (on his own dime) educating accountants, investigators, and lawyers about corporate fraud from the perspective of a reformed criminal. He does this simply as a public service. Continue reading