As the “leader” who is supposed to set the executive example for ethical, above-board behavior, Utah Governor Gary “Available Jones” Herbert has been a sad disappointment and a bad joke.  His campaign finance reports are full of red flags and discrepancies. 

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THIS JUST IN!

We interrupt this posting to announce that we’ve filed an IRS Form 211 Whistleblower Complaint naming Governor Herbert.  The Herbert complaint is among many others filed and documented in detail for all to see by CLICKING HERE.  Furthermore, we have informed and challenged the following key communicators to read and heed.  Those who subvert the Rule of Law and Good Governance must be removed from office!

• • • • The Governors of all 50 States
      • Utah Attorney General Sean “Rambo” Reyes 
      • All Utah State Legislators (100+/-)
      • All County Attorneys in The State of Utah (29)
      • Utah State Auditors and Tax Officials (18)
      • Media (109)
      • Partisan political party leaders and grass roots activists (139)
      • Executive Branch Ethics Commission Members (5)
      • Legislative Ethics Commission Members (6)
      • Ethics Committee Utah State Senate Members (9)
      • Ethics Committee Utah House of Representatives Members (8)
      • Utah Law Enforcement Legislative Committee (10)
      • And hundreds of others ………………………

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We now continue the Herbert Expose’ beginning with overall impressions:

• • According to FollowTheMoney.org, Governor Gary “Available Jones” Herbert’s campaign inflow was $9,937,789.00.
  • According to our Loosey Goosey Lt. Governor Spencer Cox, Herbert’s campaign inflow was  ~$7,375,628.52.
  • According to the Ole’ Buzzard, something stinks in Denmark. Why is there a ~$2,562,160.48 difference between the two?  We’re betting there’s a bag or two of smelly, unreported personal income that he grabbed and ran with! 
  • Of Herbert’s ~$7,375,628.52, more than a third of it went to pay R&R Partners — the PR gurus from Las Vegas and Utah.  We’re doing some backgrounding for a future story.  R&R Partners was behind the familiar Vegas campaign slogan, “What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas.”  The Ole’ Buzzard prefers the old adage, “The truth will out!”
    

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A Deeper Dive into “Available Jones'” Sleazy Legacy

The Utah timeline below depicts shameful, scandalous, corrupt and fraudulent conduct spanning from the 1970s to the 2018s.  Notice the dramatic uptick in sleaze and degeneracy once Gary “Available Jones” Herbert arrived on the scene around 2005.  After reviewing this timeline, we recommend perusing and contemplating the PDFs at the end this post.  One of the PDFs is an interactive timeline which will let the examiner “deep dive” into the details of those events depicted below.

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Here are a few lowlights from the timeline above (in approximate date order).

• • In the late 2000s, a consortium snookered and snaked out a contract from the State that was worth $1.1 billion, greasing the wheels by donating $87,500.00 to Available Jones’  election campaign. The ensuing flap caused a bid protest and a $13 million settlement paid for by taxpayers. “Somebody” sure as hell knew about it.  Yet … Ole’ “Available’s” mouthpiece claimed it happened “… without Herbert’s knowledge to settle a protest by the losing I-15 bidder.” Sure he didn’t.  No hush money (wink, wink) involved in this one, kiddies.  See the Tribune article.

Just for color, we add a “cut” from The Tooele County Democrat Party: “Within a short time, the winning bid was not FSZ’s, but Provo River Constructors – who had coincidentally donated over $80,000 to Governor Herbert’s campaign. Additionally, a $13,000,000 payout had been made to FSZ to ‘avoid a lawsuit.’” That’s right.  YOU paid for “Available Jones'” … indiscretions.   See also a Wiki article.  

• • If a tough ole bird like Utah’s Pat Shea bails out and sets activism aside because of unethical behavior championed by “Available Jones”, then Utah has really hit the poop chute.  See the Tribune 2009 article, “Utah: A beehive of corruption.”

• • After Merit Medical’s Fred Lampropoulos and “Available Jones” met in October 2009, Merit Medical gave the Gov. separate $25,000 checks to the Herbert campaign on November 2, 2009 and January 21, 2010.  Lampropoulos publicly endorsed Herbert and appeared in a television commercial supporting Herbert’s reelection bid.  Miraculously, Merit Medical received $4.4 million in tax credits. From Wikipedia here and from here we calculate more … like $67,500.00 from Lampropoulos and Merit Medical.

• • The Desperate News reported in 2010 that Herbert’s campaign received a $10,000 donation from Alton Coal Development. Alton had complained about delays in regulators issuing a permit for strip-mining and The Associated Press reported that a memorandum they had obtained showed that state regulators later agreed to fast-track a decision regarding the permit.  This … despite environmental concerns from local residents.  According to a businessman who lived near the proposed mine, regulators arrived within days of a meeting between Herbert and the coal company, and felt pressure to make a quick decision. A Utah state regulator claimed that was not the case and that Herbert did not issue any orders about whether to issue a permit. A spokeswoman for Herbert (although nobody was under oath) claimed that he was not aware of the donation and surmised that given Herbert’s long-term support of the energy industry, it was not surprising that Alton made a donation.  From Wikipedia here.  We add, however, that Consol Energy has a huge footprint in the area and has donated $45,000 to Herbert as reported by FollowTheMoney.org.  Only $30,000 of that shows up onLoosey Goosey Lt. Gov Spencer Cox’s books (Search Consol).

Intermission thought … In politics, if it looks and smells like poo, it’s poo!

• • In 2011, Utah’s Goodfellas rammed through (in only 3 days) House Bill 477, which drastically reduced the ability of citizens to access public records, especially records of Legislators.  After a tremendous public uproar, “Available Jones” announced he would sign the bill, but would also call a special session to repeal the same bill two weeks later.  He was criticized for costing the state and citizens enormous resources by not simply vetoing the bill.  Had citizens not defeated HB 477, a rat-infested plague of pay-to-play lobbyists would have destroyed what little accountability is left in America’s fraud capital  See also a Wiki article about it.

• • If, according to the Desperate News [aka “Deseret News“], it cost $42,525.35 to fly then-New Jersey Gov. Chris “Beached Whale” Christie, in for one of  “Available Jones'” galas  in 2012 (backed by Loosey Goosey Cox’s books), then how much more did it cost to feed, fett, fit and festoon Christie handsomely?  The Desperate News couldn’t find the answer; nor could we.  From their article: “Herbert campaign spokesman Marty Carpenter acknowledged the price tag for the flight was higher than Utah’s governor anticipated when he offered to cover travel costs for the sought-after New Jersey leader who waived any speaking fees.  ‘You’ve got a governor who is notoriously frugal,’ Carpenter said of Herbert.”

Say what? “Notoriously Frugal?” $597,282.07 in incestuous Gala “celebrations” over the years and, oops! … a $42,525.35 surprise for Christie’s Jumbo Jet (must have been a jumbo for Christie to fit in it).

• • To see just how crazy Utah Goodfellas are, check out how UT Gun Rights, our kin by another mother, caught “Available Jones” with his pants down in, “Utah Governor Gary Herbert Endorses Background Checks for BB Guns.” (2013)

• • Arch Coal became Bowie Coal and according to FollowTheMoney.org,  Arch/Bowie slipped a nice little bonus of  $16,500.00 to Ole’ “Available” in the 2010-2012 cycle.  Yet the East Bay Express claims Bowie paid the Gov. $14,000.  However, the records we went dig’n for said it happened in 2014 and 2015, but only to the tune of $10,000? There’s a disconnect.  Did a “somebody” slip in and cook the books a bit?  See East Bay Express for the most of the rest of this story.  The fact remains, these Goodfellas were, and are, on the take.

• • In 2016, “Available Jones” claimed to be  ready and available to play for pay.  Hear him brazenly invite bribery in front of a private group of lobbyist leches below.  See also a Wiki article about his abhorrent behavior.

• • R&R Partners plunked $44,240.98 down on “Available Jones'” account on 1/9/2017. R&R also grossed over $2,839,835.83 (search R&R here) for swing’n with Ole’ “Available.” What’s that all about?  We’re itch’n for somebody to file subpoenas for the books and records involved in these Loosey Goosey Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox–approved transactions.  We’re think’n “false and misleading information with artifice, design and scheme to conceal” gobs of unreported personal income by a whole lot’a folks in the loop.

• • If, as City Weekly claimed in 2016, “Utah is also one of 12 states that allows individuals, and one of only six states that permits corporations, to contribute unlimited sums of money to candidates seeking public office—a distinction that, if the common refrain that money is a corrupting influence in politics is anywhere near true, makes the Beehive State an unkept wound begging for infection.” A quick and thorough house cleaning is the best antibiotic. 

• • In 2018, two of Herbert’s accomplices, retiring Senate President Wayne Niederhauser and Senate Majority Whip Stuart Adams, admitted what everyone knows about corruption in Utah’s Capitol.  From the Tribune editorial, “From the horse’s mouth: Money buys influence in the Legislature.” Have a “look see” here … [pdf-embedder url=”https://justice4all.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/zFunny-MoneyBuys-influence-in-the-Legislature-1-1.pdf” title=”zFunny-MoneyBuys-influence-in-the-Legislature-“]

• • In August of 2018, the Tribune’s Gehrke reported that Available Jones is raising big money even though he’s not running again.  For what illegitimate and unethical purpose is he therefore taking lobbyist money?

When Abuse Becomes Commonplace…

So what?  Isn’t all this normal behavior in Utah?  Well … it may be typical behavior, but there is nothing normal or decent about it.  As American revolutionary Thomas Paine expressed it,

“…A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.” (Common Sense)

As the last example above demonstrates, “Available Jones” has been willfully fleecing money for a campaign he admittedly has no intention of actually conducting.  He is ending his gubernatorial career the way he began it: By perpetrating fraud against the entire ethical purpose for establishing campaign finance regulations, and thereby abusing the trust of Utah citizens.

Herbert’s unethical, dishonest, and offensive scheme is one he himself enabled under years of false promises and pretenses.  He has one legislative session left before he (thankfully) steps down, and he intends to call in all of the favors he believes he is still owed by people he has, or may still, grant special favors to.

Not all of those who pay are necessarily evil or delighted to stuff his sleazy coffers either.  Some are paying to survive and to avoid being attacked by Herbert’s ravenous, regulatory Kommissars who delight in favoring Utah’s Goodfellas and in controlling or destroying legitimate private enterprise.

How do we know that some contributors are less-than-willing?  Well … someone stood up to oppose Herbert’s “Available Jones” demand, and someone released a recording of his flagrant bribery to the press.  (Source)

Per capita, Utah is arguably America’s fraud capital.  Citizens are so saturated with corruption, it is no longer a novelty, but as commonplace as going to church on Sunday.  Well, The Ole Buzzard is here to help shock your senses back to the harsh reality of what is happening right under your beaks.

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BONUS SECTION!

At 83-years-old, The Ole’ Buzzard knows there’s so much to do and so little time left to get it right.   Click on the following link to access the comprehensive, interactive, timeline and document that “tells all” about … Utah Goodfellas. When in the document and the mouse turns into a pointy hand there’s more “stuff” to see … mostly in draft form.

We saved a spot for what we found at Loosey Goosey Lt. Gov Spencer Cox’s site below… 

• Gayla Spent
  
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• Outflow
  
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• Total Compilation
  
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