Petition to impeach Utah Attorney General circulates online

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) — A petition calling for the impeachment of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has been gaining traction online.

The call for Reyes’ impeachment comes as he pledged Utah’s support to the state of Texas’ election lawsuit that questioned the outcome of the 2020 election.

The Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit on Friday afternoon.

At last check, the petition., organized on Change.org, has over 11,000 signatures, with a goal of obtaining 15,000 signatures.

The lawsuit, which was started by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxon and has the support of 16 other attorney generals, demands 62 electoral college votes from four battleground states, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin be thrown out. Those states were won by President-elect Joe Biden.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert and Governor-elect Spencer Cox have both spoken out against Reyes’ decision, saying in a statement:

“The Attorney General did not consult us before signing on to this brief, so we don’t know what his motivation is. Just as we would not want other states challenging Utah’s election results, we do not think we should intervene in other states’ elections. Candidates who wish to challenge election results have access to the courts without our involvement. This is an unwise use of taxpayers’ money.“

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson has also publicly spoken out against the decision, saying,

I am disheartened to see that Attorney General Sean Reyes continues to politicize an election that has now been decided for weeks. Right now is an opportunity for us to work together, across party lines to address issues of real concern. Our health systems are in crisis, so many lives have been lost, and our community is shaken. The last thing we need is more gamesmanship and manipulation from elected officials using public resources to perpetuate partisan schemes. We have all had enough

The A.G’s office says taxpayer money has been used for this initial step in the form of staff salary but if the Supreme Court decides to take this case up, more taxpayer money will likely be used.

After the Supreme Court announced that it had rejected the lawsuit backed by Reyes, he released a statement saying in part, “While I am disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear the Texas v. Pennsylvania case, I respect its decision.”

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