SALT LAKE CITY -- The majority of Utah voters want Attorney General John Swallow out of office; that's what a new poll from Brigham Young University reveals.
Despite strong support for impeaching Swallow, one powerful political activist said it would be wrong.
Gayle Ruzicka, President of Utah's conservative Eagle Forum, calls The Utah Legislature's process "outrageous.”
According to an article from Utah Data Points and a new BYU poll, 72 percent of the 947 registered Utah voters polled strongly support beginning impeachment proceedings.
Of the 28 percent who don't want him impeached now, 62 percent said they want lawmakers to wait until the federal investigation is finished.
"I think the fact that there's investigations going on right now, the legislature should wait until the investigations are over,” Ruzicka said in a phone interview with FOX 13 News. “With John Swallow there's some accusations out there, that's all they are. Most of them are one-sided.”
Jeremy Johnson, a St. George Businessman under federal indictment, claims Swallow set up a bribe with top federal lawmakers and Marc Jenson, a convicted felon guilty of bilking investors out of millions, said the AG took favors from him.
In an interview with FOX 13 News last week, Swallow reacted to talk of impeachment saying, "Even the legislature is bound by the Constitution, which defines the requirements and threshold for impeachment, so I have every confidence that this legislature will discuss it thoroughly, make sure they have all their questions answered, and that they will do the right thing and I respect that."
Swallow's favorability is extremely low, sitting at 12 percent, according to the Utah Data Points article. 78 percent of those surveyed said the AG should resign.
Speaker of the House Becky Lockhart, who will be leading Wednesday's open caucus meeting, said an impeachment could cost the state taxpayers between $2 million and $5 million.
