I’ve been called a “punk” more than once in my life, but never before by the attorney general of Utah. According to recent reports in The Salt Lake Tribune, that’s what our state’s top law enforcement officer called me in a catty text message to a crony while encouraging him to sue me.
Attorney General Sean Reyes was apparently bothered that I had publicly challenged the credibility of Operation Underground Railroad, which was run by his friend Tim Ballard. Reyes went on to recommend that Ballard file a lawsuit against me.
Instead of offering legal advice to Ballard — who has since been removed as the head of OUR after an independent investigation into sexual misconduct — Reyes should have been representing the people of Utah and asking questions about the shadowy stories emerging from those allegedly victimized by Ballard and the anti-trafficking organization.
Worse still: Reyes has been accused of trying to silence those alleged victims and help cover up those allegations against Ballard and OUR.
These are the actions of an elected official who believes he can act with impunity, because let’s face it: For Utah’s top Republicans, they can. But no one should be above the law, especially the state’s top law enforcement official.
In Reyes’ defense, it’s not like his fellow elected Republicans have sent many signals of disapproval. As questions emerged about Reyes’ work to overturn the 2020 presidential election and other extracurricular activities like his partnership with OUR, Utah Republicans moved to shield him from scrutiny by limiting access to his official calendar.
If not for the bravery of Ballard’s alleged victims who stood up and spoke out, Reyes and Ballard might have gotten away with it. The victims brought to light a corrupt organization and motives fueled by delusions of grandeur after the success of Ballard’s “Sound of Freedom” film — a much-embellished origin story of OUR in which Reyes received an associate producer credit.
Reyes’ actions are symptoms of a culture of impunity born of an increasingly extreme and petty Republican supermajority in state government that is leaving everyday Utahns behind.
They ignored the will of the people and gerrymandered legislative districts to further dilute the power of those who would prefer a more centrist approach to governing. It’s no wonder the recent GOP caucuses drew less than 10% of eligible voters. It’s almost as though they’d prefer to keep the public in the dark and advance an unpopular agenda behind closed doors.
While failing to take action when a fellow Republican, Natalie Cline, targeted a high school student on social media — allowing the pariah of the state school board to keep her office while offering her a path towards reelection — they kneecapped Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill with legislation on the last day of the session that will subject his office to gubernatorial and judicial oversight and take power away from the voters who elected him in an act of political retribution.
As with the social media ecosystems that feed them, supermajorities — like the one that enabled Reyes — are very good at reinforcing their own biases. When true competition for ideas ceases to exist, politicians are incentivized to cater to the echo chambers that keep them entrenched. They focus less on the core role of government and more on culture wars that divide us. Case in point: Reyes’s text message about me to Ballard suggesting the lawsuit betrayed the real motivation for his strategy of retribution.
“Would make for a good case,” the attorney general wrote. “Thousands of views and [retweets].”
It’s hard to ignore that this dynamic resulted in the Legislature prioritizing bills to punish transgender Utahns and ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs while largely ignoring the imminent demise of the Great Salt Lake and passing legislation to socialize the costs of fossil fuels.
The partisan consolidation of power by Utah’s legislature and other Republican-led councils, commissions and boards across the state is proving bad for all of us. Even moderate Republican voices are getting increasingly drowned out by extremists at all levels, creating a culture ripe for abuse.
Until we hold the enablers of government corruption and opacity accountable, we will see more, not fewer, instances of malfeasance that bring shame to our state and breed mistrust in our public institutions. And we will see supermajority politicians double down on tactics that further ensconce their hold on government — like threatening those who disagree with them with groundless lawsuits.
You don’t have to be a punk to condemn fraudsters or to stand up for victims against adjudicated rapists or abusers. But if wanting a little public accountability from our state leaders makes me a punk, so be it. A few more of us might be just what the state needs to guard against the excesses of an unaccountable supermajority.
(Photo courtesy of Nate Blouin) Nate Blouin
Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Millcreek, represents District 13 in the Utah Senate, including Salt Lake City, Millcreek, South Salt Lake, Murray and West Valley City.
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