Ex-Attorney General Sean Reyes withheld, modified, hid information from public, audit says

SALT LAKE CITY — A new legislative audit says former Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes withheld, modified or hid significant information about his schedule, plus his involvement with nonprofits and travel, hamstringing efforts to evaluate conflicts of interest and governance within the office.

When Reyes was first sworn in, he responded to a previous legislative audit with a prioritized list of the most critical issues facing his administration, auditors pointed out. No. 1 was "restoring trust through inviting outside audits and investigations of the (Utah Attorney General's Office)."

Audit staff, led by Auditor General Kade Minchey, presented the findings to a subcommittee co-chaired by Senate President J. Stuart Adams and Speaker of the House Mike Schultz, concluding: "The (attorney general) has not been transparent with the public. The (attorney general) has also not been transparent with us when asked to examine the governance of the office."

'Not reasonably transparent'

Auditors were tasked with evaluating the governance of the office and determining "if legal and administrative decisions are adequately presented, deliberated, approved and documented."

The administration made this task difficult, with auditors saying Reyes "resisted turning over full information."

Significant information was provided to auditors, according to the report, but information about government business, which did not appear to be "personal or privileged," was withheld.

Auditors were often told "information was not shared with us because it was privileged under attorney-client provisions. The use of the privilege argument to withhold information was pervasive throughout the audit process."

Reyes, in a prepared statement, responded to the findings by saying auditors "had access to millions of documents and other types of data including accounting, financial, travel, emails, texts, calendars, personal interviews, and more. The only information that was withheld was private or protected.

"Most of the redacted information displayed the (attorney general's) involvement in outside entities, time spent at a private barber shop, or out-of-state travel for AG associations," according to the report.

Schedule of activities

The audits findings, from analysis of Reyes' work calendar, echoed findings from KSL-TV's investigation after a nearly two-year legal fight over public records. Reyes provided "incomplete information" to investigators, including a redacted calendar and communications, and an incomplete travel log.

"The information withheld was not in itself particularly alarming, but we are concerned with the lack of transparency as many withholdings did not appear to be personal or privileged," the report states.

The subcommittee says it was concerned that Reyes, the subject of the audit, was limiting the information the subcommittee members could examine. Members drafted "a declaration letter attesting that all government related business — including any activity where the (attorney general) represented the official position or office — be provided to us."

They defined "purely personal matters as family, religious events, or other activities that did not include the (attorney general) position or the office."

Reyes returned a document to auditors that had been changed, the report reveals, modifying the definitions of what was agreed would be turned over, to exempt "activities that were not official (attorney general's office) business."

The subcommittee found independent sources for some activities, the report says, to compare with redacted calendar events. The audit uncovered "many examples of information being withheld," but provided only a handful of examples.

One example shows a redacted calendar invite for a 2022 Utah Chiefs of Police Conference in St. George, organized by Reyes. Redacted portions hid the fact that Reyes did not actually attend the event.

"It appears that some of these redactions attempt to create a different perspective of the (attorney general's) activities," the report says.

Schultz, at the hearing, said he believes the shielding of information by claiming attorney-client protection is "a huge problem found inside the audits," that is becoming increasingly common among agencies. "Maybe some of it was attorney client privilege, but it looks like the majority of that wasn't," he said. "The concern to me is, how do we move forward with this type of thing?"

Representatives expressed the hope they can work with the Attorney General's Office to develop statute that may address the underlying issue.

Despite finding around 50 mentions of time spent at "a private barber shop" between 2022 and 2023, likely referring to the members-only club Mac's Place, "information provided by the (attorney general) almost completely removed any mention of this private barber shop in the AG's calendar and communications," the report says.

"Our concern is not specifically related to the private barber shop," the report says. "The issue is with the withholding of this information and the concern that other even more pertinent information was also withheld."

The audit reports that a number of conferences Reyes traveled to, organized by the Attorney's General Alliance and the national Association of Attorneys General — with destinations like Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., Ireland, Ghana, Spain and Ohio — were withheld, despite his disclosure of many other trips to events for these associations.

No trips related to the Republican Attorneys General Association, at least 16 events between 2019 and 2023, were disclosed, the report says.

"Since we did not receive sufficient information, we did not evaluate whether travel appeared to be appropriate or excessive," according to the audit. "It did not appear that the additional travel events used state funding."

Involvement in nonprofits

The Utah Attorney General's Office has authority to provide oversight on nonprofits, auditors say. This creates the opportunity for involvement to be perceived as conflict of interest.

Former Gov. Gary Herbert, recognizing that potential, asked Reyes to step down from any nonprofit governing boards upon appointment, according to the report. Reyes, however, continued his involvement in 26 organizations, "many of which appeared to be nonprofits," the audit reports.

Reyes was found to have "leveraged his oversight authority to solicit donations to his personal nonprofit," Liberate All Value All, operating from 2016 to 2024. Those donations would then be shared with other nonprofits.

Looking into Reyes' involvement with Operation Underground Railroad, auditors found the attorney general withheld information about meetings with the organization's board of governors, events that included director Tim Ballard, and meetings between Reyes and Operation Underground Railroad staff.

Around $950,000 in donations from Operation Underground Railroad to the attorney general's office task force, Internet Crimes Against Children, created confusion among local law enforcement after Reyes' office "stated the funds were a federal grant," while reporting usage of money back to Operation Underground Railroad, the report says.

Reyes says that parts of the audit tell a different story. "Buried in the audit are the very positive conclusions about high office morale, proper use of public funds, no favoritism by the (attorney general), the fact that he received no compensation from outside entities, and that there were no actual conflicts of interest." He said that his nonprofit support was legal but admitted "that could possibly be a perceived conflict."

Attorney General Derek Brown was at the hearing to address the recommendations given to his office. He said he is working to develop a set of "best practices,"

"with the idea that this won't just be what I do, but it will be effectively the gold standard for anyone serving in this position moving forward."

State Rep. Ken Ivory, who filed the audit request, told Attorney General Derek Brown "we've seen the last two or three attorneys general come in, speaking about the very same thing 'my first objective is to clean up the office and restore integrity that kind of thing.' And we've kind of had, sadly, a pattern." Ivory expressed hope Brown will assist in creating statutes that will ensure a higher level of ethics and transparency is required from the office, and not variable between administrations.

The subcommittee also noted Reyes' lack of involvement in the operations of different divisions during his administration, and pushed for the Utah Legislature to consider "additional ethical and transparency requirements," modeled after neighboring states, for the Utah Attorney General's Office.

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