Alerted that some members felt the Utah National Guard had an “extremely dangerous” climate, Gov. Spencer Cox first asked for an investigation into the state’s top military commander in 2021.
Cox spoke privately with Adjutant General Michael Turley — and no one else in the guard — before dropping the inquiry, according to documents and accounts from the governor’s office, telling Turley to survey his own troops about the environment under his leadership.
Newly released records now show Cox asked for a second investigation of Turley in 2022. But after his administration spoke with Turley, Turley’s counsel, and two employees of the more than 7,000-member guard, Cox again closed the investigation.
It wasn’t until the Army wrapped up its own independent investigation of Turley in 2023 — two years after guard members told Cox in multiple anonymous letters that Turley had allegedly mishandled sexual misconduct complaints and made violent threats — that the governor’s administration began asking troops about their commander.
A half dozen guard members backed the allegations made in the letters that Turley didn’t properly address sexual misconduct, investigative records recently obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune show. They told Cox’s administration in individual interviews last year that the discipline Turley handed down was lighter than is typically administered in the military.
In one example, a witness said, “Turley accepted a letter of resignation for an [redacted] officer who was having an inappropriate relationship [redacted] instead of imposing discipline.”
Utah’s report said “it is speculated by those interviewed that General Turley was lenient in these cases because of his own relationship that was under investigation” by the Department of the Army Inspector General.
As part of that investigation, Turley “was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, among other allegations,” an attorney for Turley told lawmakers at a committee meeting in January.
After the Army inquiry ended with a substantiated finding, Cox’s office said Turley resigned last August. The ex-adjutant general has denied the claims.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maj. Gen. Michael Turley salutes as Taps is played at the Memorial Day Ceremony on the steps of the Utah Capitol Building on Monday, May 29, 2023.
Guard members interviewed by the state in 2023 also told the governor’s investigator that Turley was “isolating himself” and had become “disconnected” and “compromised,” according to the records.
The interviews — and records about the two narrow investigations that were dropped — were released to The Tribune this week. The Utah State Records Committee had earlier ordered the release of the investigative records and recently approved an order agreed upon by Cox’s attorneys and The Tribune. That agreement was reached after a monthslong appeals process involving both the Division of Human Resource Management and Cox’s legal counsel.
This week, an officer who worked at the Utah National Guard’s headquarters in Draper and interacted with Turley was critical of Cox’s decision against pursuing a broader investigation in 2021 and 2022.
”For the governor to be like, ‘OK, we’re good,’ [after talking with the adjutant general and ordering a survey] is a complete manipulation of an investigative process,” said the officer, who The Tribune interviewed and agreed not to identify because they fear retaliation. The Tribune independently confirmed the officer’s role in the guard.
Turley did not respond to a request for comment from The Tribune. A call to the former adjutant general went to voicemail after two rings, and 15 minutes later, his attorney returned the call.
The attorney did not answer questions sent to him after the phone conversation.
Turley’s behavior, one of the anonymous letters in 2021 read, “created an environment where those who serve under him are reluctant or unwilling to share information that is counter to what he wants to hear, this is an extremely dangerous thing to have in a military organization and leads to things being covered up or neglected if it will make the boss angry.”
“We felt it our duty to report this directly to you first,” they wrote to Cox’s office. “We will be filing a report with the DoD [Department of Defense] and possibly our congressman just to make sure that this does not go uninvestigated. All these claims are easily confirmed through a proper investigation.”
When The Tribune asked the governor’s office if it would have handled the situation with Turley any differently, knowing now what more thorough inquiries uncovered, the office said it acted appropriately with what it knew at the time.
“Allegations require thorough investigation and investigations take time. We have procedures and policies in place for a reason, and we followed the process as information came to light,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Ultimately, the governor took appropriate action based on the information he had available to him at the time.”
The governor criticized this story, posted online Friday, in his monthly news conference on PBS Utah, calling it an “utter falsehood.”
“I never called off an investigation,” Cox said Friday. “In fact, I started two investigations. Those investigations did not find anything because they were anonymous complaints, and we did not have any evidence of actual wrongdoing by the adjutant general.”
In 2022 investigation notes, Division of Human Resource Management Director John Barrand wrote, “Last year, (Late Oct) BARRAND indicated that Gov’s office initially instructed him to investigate anon complaints emailed to Gov’s office. However, Gov’s office met with TURLEY and after that meeting called off the investigation.”
When asked about that portion of the documents, Cox said, “The investigation was the survey to the people,” referring to the surveying overseen by Turley.
Cox calls off first investigation
A spokesperson previously told The Tribune that Cox had met with Turley in 2021.
But the governor’s office did not share that Cox had asked the state’s human resources agency to begin an investigation then, and, according to the newly released records, quickly called it off after meeting privately with Turley and the governor’s chief of staff in early October 2021.
Among the 70 troops who responded to the survey Cox had requested, the results of which were previously obtained from the Utah National Guard and reported on by The Tribune, more than a quarter reported the presence of “sexually harassing behaviors,” while one in five said there were “racially harassing behaviors.”
The survey was sent to 95 people who worked at the Utah National Guard Headquarters.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Members of the Utah National Guard at Governor's Day at Camp Williams on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023.
The officer who spoke to The Tribune said among those who answered, “many of them felt like they couldn’t speak freely.”
“How effective is a survey going to be when you have the number one general in the Utah National Guard asking his subordinates to say things about him?” the officer said. “That is not an effective way of analyzing your toxicity, or your handling of sexual misconduct.”
A spokesperson for the governor previously described the results of the survey as “largely positive.” Cox’s office said the governor had a private conversation with Turley, afterward, and “directed Gen. Turley to make improvements based on the survey results.”
When asked what those suggestions were, senior communications adviser Jennifer Napier-Pearce said in February, “I don’t have specifics on private conversations between Gov. Cox and Gen. Turley.”
In a statement provided by a Utah National Guard spokesperson Thursday, and in his assumption of command speech delivered last September, the new head of the guard, Maj. Gen. Daniel Boyack, emphasized that one of his highest priorities in the role is to improve the guard’s culture.
That, he said, comes through increasing accountability, transparency and ensuring standards are upheld.
Turley denies allegations of misconduct
Cox launched a second investigation after Military Times reporter Davis Winkie reached out in 2022 asking for comment on the Army’s separate and simultaneous inquiry.
Turley was aware of the Army’s investigation in 2021, according to the records.
During the state’s second investigation, and after Winkie asked a Cox spokesperson about the case, both Turley and his legal counsel told the head of the state’s human resources agency that Turley was encouraged by his attorney not to tell Cox about the investigation.
The Army investigated three allegations against Turley, according to remarks the commander made to the state investigator in 2022. He said he was accused of misusing a federal vehicle, “gross communication climate” and sexual misconduct.
Turley denied all three allegations in that interview, saying he drives a state vehicle, not a federal one. He “offered no specifics” on the alleged sexual misconduct, interview notes say.
A Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of the Army’s own investigation filed by The Tribune in August 2023, the same day Cox announced he was placing Turley on paid administrative leave, has not yet been fulfilled.
A Utah National Guard spokesperson said they have not seen a copy of the Army’s investigation into Turley.
According to the records provided by the governor’s office, it didn’t pursue a deeper investigation of the allegations until August 2023, shortly after the Army announced it had concluded its two-year investigation with “substantiated finding.”
Spokespeople for Cox have repeatedly blamed his delayed response on a refusal by the Army Inspector General to share information over the course of the office’s two-year inquiry. The Army’s media relations division did not answer inquiries from The Tribune about why investigation details were withheld from state officials.
Barrand, who submitted the results of the 2022 investigation to Cox’s office, noted in his review that “the scope … was limited by the lack of specificity of the allegations. We have no names of witnesses or complainants.”
Barrand did not mention Turley’s name to the two guard members he spoke to as part of the review, he said in an email to the governor’s chief of staff and legal counsel. “Rather, we asked both employees whether they were aware of any instances of disrespectful, unprofessional, or inappropriate behavior by any leader or manager at the Utah National Guard,” Barrand wrote.
“At this point we only have anonymous allegations of wrongdoing with few details, which the Adjutant General has denied,” Barrand concluded. “Accordingly, there is no basis to find that the Adjutant General has engaged in inappropriate conduct. Based on this, I recommend that the Governor await the conclusion of the Army Inspector General’s investigation. In the meantime, we should take appropriate action should any new information come to light regarding this matter.”
Barrand’s notes indicate that Turley — who took command of the guard in November 2019 — twice “volunteered that if the Gov. says this doesn’t look good, he will retire.” Cox did not take him up on that offer.
In August 2023, after the Army concluded its inquiry, Cox suspended Turley and unceremoniously relieved the 26-year Army officer of command. His administration then conducted a third and broader investigation.
‘Set back the reporting of misconduct by years’
At the time, Utah law said the adjutant general is appointed by the governor and holds office for a term of six years, but may be terminated by the governor “for cause.” In an effort to make it easier for the governor to remove the head of the guard if needed, the Legislature changed the law this year to say the adjutant general “serves at the pleasure of the governor.”
Guard members interviewed as part of the 2023 inquiry said he was largely absent during the two years he was under investigation while still leading several thousand troops.
“Turley has been isolating himself for the last two years,” a guard member told a Division of Human Resource Management investigator, according to interview notes. “Did a lot of telework.”
Another told state investigators, “Turley was disconnected, was not going to all events and ceremonies.”
The state’s final report from 2023 notes, “It was stated to us multiple times that General Turley’s conduct does not meet the military regulations for a Commanding Officer.”
Turley’s response to sexual misconduct allegations, likewise, was below military standards, most interviewed witnesses said.
“I would not have made the decisions he made. Sexual/inappropriate relationships were not given the max discipline,” one said, according to interview notes included in the new records. Discussing a specific case in which a “supervisor” had a relationship with an “enlisted person,” or subordinate, that witness said, “There was lots of evidence. Very black and white. No question. … General Turley took the less action.”
“It has been discussed [among guard members] that the lack of action, or at least timely action, has set back the reporting of misconduct by years,” the guard officer told The Tribune. “You know, whatever type of misconduct it is, why would somebody come forward to report it?”
Editor’s note • This story was updated on Friday, July 19 at 8:45 a.m. to clarify that the governor’s office says Maj. Gen. Michael Turley resigned from his position, and to add information about interviews the Division of Human Resource Management conducted in 2022. This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.
