Utah Attorney General Announces Resignation Utah Attorney General John Swallow announced Thursday that he is stepping down amid multiple investigations of bribery and misconduct that have hounded him ever since he took office at the beginning of the year. Swallow discussed his resignation at a news conference as he vigorously denied breaking any laws and said the strain of the investigations had become too much for him and his family. Now is the time for the madness to stop and for the state to move forward. The toll on my family, the toll on my office and the toll on our finances has been too much. It is time for it to stop. It marked a stunning fall for a politician who was elected with nearly two-thirds of the vote one year ago and seemingly had a bright political future. But within his first week in office, accusations surfaced that the Republican engaged in questionable financial dealings with a businessman under federal investigation for fraud. The allegations set off a series of investigations and calls for his resignation that overshadowed Utah politics for months. Jeff Peterson, the executive director of the Utah Republican Party, said the party's central committee would recommend three candidates to replace Swallow. Republican Gov. Gary Herbert would then choose one to fill the office until a special election could be held next November. Swallow's resignation is the first time a Utah attorney general has stepped down midterm, said Tim Chambless of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics. The state has seen two governors resign, but both left for other political posts and not in scandal, he said. "Under these circumstances, this is unprecedented in Utah political history," Chambless said. Swallow has been accused of arranging a bribery plot and trading offers of protection in return for favors from several businessmen. He is also accused of failing to disclose business interests on campaign forms and violating attorney-client privilege while serving in the attorney general's office. He has been or is currently being investigated by the state elections office, two county attorneys, the Utah House, the FBI, the Department of Justice and the Utah State Bar. Swallow has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. At his nearly half-hour news conference Thursday, Swallow repeatedly accused the Utah House of launching a politically driven investigation and cited his concerns about the amount of public money they were spending. "I believe the investigation was calculated to make it very difficult for me to stay in office," he said. Swallow didn't specify why he thought the investigation was politically driven beyond saying that House investigators were falsely accusing him of not cooperating. He was at times defiant and even raised his voice slightly when defending himself or discussing the allegations against him. When he thanked his family and supporters and spoke of his time in office, he frequently paused between sentences and bit his lip. "If I truly am innocent, as I claim I am," Swallow said. Today is truly a sad day in Utah because an election has been overturned. The scrutiny of Swallow began days after his inauguration, when Utah businessman Jeremy Johnson accused him of orchestrating a plan to bribe U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. Johnson was under investigation at the time and reached out to Swallow to make the issue go away.