"My objective, ever since Susan Lawrence first described her experience with Rep. Hughes to me, has been to find support among other legislators for investigating some serious allegations of wrongdoing and support for genuine ethics reform," she said.

Allen's testimony, as well as e-mails she sent to Lawrence that she gave to the committee, also detailed the attempts made by House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, and Rep. Kevin Garn, R-Layton, to convince her not to bring the complaints forward. She had already signed an ethics complaint against Rep. Mark Walker, R-Sandy, who was alleged to have offered a significant raise to his opponent in the state treasurer's primary, current deputy state treasurer Richard Ellis, if Ellis would drop out.

In mid-July, during a meeting and in follow-up letters, Garn and Curtis offered some concessions, including ethics reforms, if she would not pursue any more ethics complaints.

Allen, however, turned them down, and informed them she knew of a serious complaint that could be potentially brought against Hughes. That complaint was brought forward a few weeks later, when Lawrence formally submitted her letter.

That letter did not contain the word bribery, but Lawrence had used the word in e-mails to Allen and in a draft of the letter.

---

E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com