Salt Lake County Councilman Steve Harmsen disputes the accuracy of the fliers and said that placing the words "Guzzle Gate" over his picture in the "Salt Lake County Wall of Shame" flier borders on libelous. Though Harmsen was not identified in any of the county scandals — they happened in separate offices — Willhite said that her organization tied him to the scandals because as chairman of the Salt Lake County Council, he did not pursue investigations of the allegations of illegal gasoline purchases. He said he is considering legal action.

"I've had nothing to do with any of it," Harmsen said. Tying him to the scandals "hurts my integrity and standing as a businessman in Salt Lake County, which meets the definition of libel."

State Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Valley, said that the group is a sign of new times in state politics, but one that is prevalent in the East: "ghost PACs." Their practice is to come into a state near election day, have phantom phone numbers and addresses, spread vicious attack advertising, then leave the day after the election.

In this case, Buttars said, he suspects that the group is specifically targeting him and Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, because of their sponsorship of Amendment 3, which would put a same-sex marriage ban in the Utah Constitution. The group attacks Buttars as "guilty" in both fliers. He said the fliers took parts from a much longer quote. "Take a little truth, crop it right, and you've got a great lie.

"This is national gay politics, it's the gays out to get us," he said. "If they just attacked LaVar and me, it would be too blatant."

To stop future problems, he said "we've got to look at the whole PAC issue" and place strict requirements on how a PAC's leaders are identified.

"I think you should almost have to have a picture" of the organizers, Buttars said.

As for Christensen, the fliers attack him for giving away water rights. When asked about that, however, the representative could offer no explanation.

"To me it just seems groundless," Christensen said. "I don't even know what they're referring to."

Utah Democratic Chairman Donald Dunn said that the party had nothing to do with the fliers, and that he hadn't even seen one as of Friday evening. He said he knows nothing about the group.

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com