A Utah state prosecutor who has been investigating allegations of wrongdoing against Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for more than a year on Wednesday night challenged the Senate minority leader to voluntarily provide evidence to clear his name.
Davis County District Attorney Troy Rawlings, who is pursuing a corruption case against a former Utah attorney general where Mr. Reid’s name surfaced, issued the challenge after Mr. Reid’s office dismissed the prosecutors’ investigation as a witch hunt designed to burnish Mr. Rawlings’ political career.
“I have no political career,” Mr. Rawlings told The Washington Times, saying he doesn’t plan to run for any other office except local prosecutor. “This is not a PR game.”
In a detailed statement directly addressed to Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, he asked for voluntary cooperation in his investigation, including a waiver under the Freedom of Information Act so that the FBI could release evidence it gathered involving the Nevada senator.
“What I do want, to use your terminology, is (1) every scrap of evidence used by federal investigators and prosecutors in unsubstantiating, dismissing or not pursuing the allegations you refer to; (2) your full waiver of privacy rights under FOIA in connection with all documents that memorialize, refer or relate in any way to the allegations so we can obtain the information through that means; and (3) a chat about the unsubstantiated allegations that were not pursued by federal prosecutors,” Mr. Rawlings said.
“You may end up being an important witness. I have a defendant in Utah, Mr. Mark L. Shurtleff, who, like you, is presumed innocent and is entitled to all of this material based on multiple critical investigative intersects. Please urge the Department of Justice to provide the exonerating evidence and information so we do not have to litigate the issues in Utah,” he said.
The Times reported more than a year ago that Mr. Rawlings, a Republican, an another Utah prosecutor, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill, a Democrat, were pursuing allegations of possible corruption against several elected officials, including Mr. Reid, after the FBI was blocked by the Obama Justice Department from pursuing the information.
Mr. Reid has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.
Since that time, Mr. Rawlings has indicted Mr. Shurtleff, the former state attorney general, on corruption charges and continued to investigate possible links.
When The Associated Press published an update on Mr. Rawlings’ efforts earlier Wednesday, Mr. Reid’s office responded with a blistering attack on the prosecutor.
“This individual has decided to use Senator Reid’s name to generate attention to himself and advance his political career, so every few months he seeks headlines by floating the same unsubstantiated allegations, which he admits have been dismissed by federal prosecutors,” Mr. Reid’s office said.
• John Solomon can be reached at jsolomon1@washingtontimes.com.
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