In a video message released Dec. 8 on YouTube, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes announced that he does not plan to seek re-election in 2024. Reyes is facing intense scrutiny over his alleged ties to Tim Ballard and his Operation Underground Railroad organization (Image courtesy of Facebook).
SALT LAKE CITY – Not satisfied with his promise not to run for re-election in 2024, the Utah Democratic Party is demanding that Attorney General Sean Reyes resign immediately.
“While his decision not to run for re-election is good news for Utahns,” according to state Democratic Party Chair Diane Lewis, “(Reyes) should resign instead of spending the next year continuing to abuse his position of authority and failing to do the work of the people.”
Lewis’ remarks came Dec. 8, after the embattled Reyes announced in a video message on YouTube that he doesn’t plan to run for re-election in 2024.
Reyes is under fire for his earlier defense of Tim Ballard and his Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), an anti-sex trafficking group that has been accused covering up charges of harassment and sexual assault by its leader.
Reyes is facing allegations of witness tampering and other efforts to derail investigation of OUR filed in Utah 3rd District Court in November by Ballard’s accusers. After initially denying those charges, Reyes says he now believes those accusations against Ballard after meeting with his accusers and their lawyers.
Reyes is also under intense scrutiny about various controversies, which Lewis says include lavish donor-funded trips and a pending bipartisan legislative internal audit of the Attorney General’s office.
“When Sean Reyes assumed the role of Attorney General ten years ago on the heels of another scandal-ridden Republican,” Lewis recalls, “he vowed to restore trust and integrity to the office.
“In reality, he has done the exact opposite, using his position for political and personal gain at every turn.”
That so-called “scandal-ridden Republican” was former Attorney General John Swallow, who also resigned under fire in 2013.
Reyes was then appointed to the state post by former Gov. Gary Herbert.
In his video statement, Reyes promised that his office would now conduct a statewide investigation of Ballard and his OUR organization, from which Reyes promised to recuse himself. The attorney general did not mention those mounting legal controversies in announcing his decision not to run in 2024, instead citing a need to refocus on his family and his private legal practice.
But that decision appears to have come about suddenly. On Dec. 7, Reyes showed a brave face when released internal polling results that allegedly demonstrated his ability to beat potential Republican rivals state Sen. Dan McCay and former GOP state chair Derek Brown.
Lewis concluded her statement on Reyes’ future by arguing that Utahns deserve “a competent, ethical and accountable attorney general.”
Reyes is scheduled to meet with Gov. Spencer Cox at 3 p.m. on Dec. 11. The subject of that meeting has not been announced.