Utah prosecutors indicted a former attorney general candidate on bribery charges Wednesday, accusing him of offering a job to a political opponent in exchange for his support of the candidate.
Frank Myler was indicted on election bribery charges after he allegedly solicited the support of Republican colleague Trent Christensen in exchange for a job in his office if he was elected.
A Murray, Utah, detective said in a court filing Tuesday that Christensen told local police in May that he had received a text message from Myler asking for his endorsement ahead of the state’s Republican nominating convention, scheduled for April 27.
In the text messages, Myler reportedly said his campaign was “gaining momentum” and urged Christensen to support him.
“If you would endorse me before the convention, I would absolutely have you in my office. Please give me a few days to think about it,” Myler wrote, according to prosecutors.
Christensen did not reply to the text message, and later that same day, Myler sent a follow-up message to Christensen asking him to ignore the earlier text message, saying he had not intended to send it and “this was not an offer,” court documents state.
Mr. Myler’s lawyers, Nathan A. Crane and Rick Van Wagoner, said their client denies the charges and has no intention of pleading guilty.
“Frank categorically denies the allegations made against him. Frank did not bribe or attempt to groom anyone. Frank was simply seeking support for his campaign,” they said in a statement. “Immediately after sending the text message, Frank contacted the recipient to ensure the original text was not misinterpreted.”
In an interview with NBC News, Christensen said the text messages “speak for themselves” and that he would not have acted differently if the convention and primary had gone differently.
“When I ran my campaign, it was based on trust and accountability, and I believe Utah needs an attorney general who is more focused on trust and accountability to the people — accountability on all fronts,” Christensen said. “I have faith that our justice system will work and that justice will be served.”
Christensen lost the nominating convention in April and did not advance to the primary election on June 25. Myler lost the three-way primary to Derek Brown with 43.59% of the vote.
Rudy Bautista is the Democratic candidate in the November election.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, a Republican, dropped his re-election bid in December.
