Truth Test: Fact-checking claims from candidates for Utah Attorney General

CEDAR CITY — Four candidates vying to be Utah’s new attorney general took the debate stage in southern Utah Tuesday night, pledging transparency and sparring over issues from public lands to redistricting.

Republican Derek Brown, Democrat Rudy Bautista, Michelle Quist of the United Utah Party and Libertarian   Andrew McCullough made their case to replace Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who’s not seeking reelection.

In response to a question prompted by KSL’s legal fight to see Reyes’ calendar, each of the candidates said they’d voluntarily release their calendars if elected.

The candidates shared their current opinions, beliefs and policy positions. But the KSL Investigators focused on their statements of fact, running two of their claims from the debate through the KSL Truth Test.

Here’s what our fact-checking found:

Campaign cash and where it comes from  

Quist, the United Utah Party candidate, made this claim about contributions Brown’s campaign: “My opponent Mr. Brown has taken donations from conflicted parties, $50,000 from property developers with current projects, $10,000 dollars from DC lawyers who want work from the office, $50,000 from dark money national organizations.”

The KSL Investigators found Quist’s claim about Brown’s campaign donations to be mostly true, but she did not provide evidence that a DC attorney (one who’s represented the state as outside counsel in the past) is seeking work from the office if Brown’s reelected.

The Truth Test revealed that part of her statement is unsupported. Brown also rejected the idea when KSL asked after the debate.

“I will absolutely take the donation, but it is never transactional,” he said.

The attorney who made the donation, Gene Schaerr, told KSL in an email: “My contribution to Derek’s campaign is a reflection our decades-long friendship, not an effort to get business from the AG’s office – which is already a valued client of the firm.”

As for Quist’s other claims, campaign disclosure forms show developer Wasatch Group donated $50,000 to Brown’s campaign. And the Washington, DC lawyer contributed $10,000. Brown also received $50,000 from the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA).

Opensecrets.org, the nonprofit tracking money in politics, considers groups to be “dark money” when the bulk of their funding cannot be traced back to the original donor. RAGA reveals its donors, but the KSL Investigators couldn’t trace the original funding sources that passed through its largest contributor, the Concord Fund.

Brown said he’s not certain where each dollar came from.

“I don’t know a lot of the sources. I mean, I know that some of them are disclosed,” he said. “I’m not in a position as a candidate to know kind of where that is at this point.”

Access to federal land in Utah

Brown made this comment on federal land in Utah:

“We are actually being denied access and that’s the reason this is so important,” Brown said without elaborating further on that point.

The Truth Test found Brown’s claim on access to be true, but there’s important context missing.

In a move it said aims to balance conservation and recreation, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has closed certain roads near Moab to motorized vehicles — a decision criticized by state leaders, including Reyes, last year. The move placed about 300 miles off limits to off-roading, but about 800 more remain open for motorized use.

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