SALT LAKE CITY — After more than a year’s worth of efforts to keep his appointments secret, the Utah Attorney General’s Office has released part of Sean Reyes’ calendar to the Salt Lake Tribune.
However, the Utah AG’s Office stated it would not provide work-related calendars to FOX 13 News unless we paid an estimated fee of $7,282.07.
The Utah AG’s Office filed a lawsuit against the Salt Lake Tribune (Jessica Miller) earlier this year. The lawsuit was eventually settled with the Utah AG’s Office releasing five years of calendar invites sent to or from Reyes’ Outlook account from January 2019 to December 2023.
Appointments deemed “personal” were not included in the released calendar. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the Utah AG’s Office refused to say how many appointments were not included.
The Utah AG’s Office also filed a similar lawsuit against KSL-TV (Annie Knox), but the judge ruled in the media's favor. In that case, the Utah AG’s Office was reportedly ordered to pay $132,241 in attorney’s fees and court costs.
Critics point to the two lawsuits as a colossal waste of taxpayer money.
The Utah AG’s Office chose not to file a similar lawsuit against FOX 13 News even though we have requested significantly more records related to Reyes’ calendar and the calendars of his top staff.
FOX 13 News filed a request for Reyes’ calendar from 2013 – February 2025.
The Utah AG’s Office denied our request for the records. On appeal, the Utah AG’s Office lost its case before the State Records Committee.
By attempting to charge $7,282.07, the Utah AG’s Office now admits the calendars are public records.
“They don’t really have a leg to stand on if they want to fight it in court, so what they can do to obstruct that is put an exorbitant price tag on it,” said Robert Gehrke, a reporter with the Salt Lake Tribune. “From a financial standpoint, if you can’t access this information? The law becomes hollow.”
FOX 13 News is exploring all legal options.
In 2024, the Utah State Legislature ordered an audit of the Utah AG’s Office. State lawmakers had questions about how Reyes spends his time. They also had questions about the effects of outside influences.
"I think the public deserves better," said Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork. "I don't think (Reyes) wants to be the attorney general. He spends a lot of time doing things that are not relevant to his job as attorney general."
The audit is not expected to be released until after Reyes leaves office in 2025.
Calendars are no longer public records in Utah, but each of the requests filed by FOX 13 News, KSL, and the Salt Lake Tribune were filed prior to the law being changed.
In total, the Utah AG’s Office turned over 9,165 pages of calendar invitations to the Salt Lake Tribune from 2019 to 2024.
According to Gehrke, several events were conspicuously absent from the released calendars.
Due to the lack of "personal" appointments, the records tell a “scattered and incomplete story” of how Reyes spent his time.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, there was almost nothing on Reyes’ calendar linking him to Tim Ballard, the founder of the anti-human trafficking nonprofit Operation Underground Railroad (OUR).
Reyes and Ballard were friends for approximately 10 years. In 2015, it was revealed that Reyes went to Colombia with Ballard and OUR as part of an undercover operation.
Ballard’s national profile increased because of his close friendship with Reyes.
Human trafficking became a “top priority” in Reyes’ administration.
He promoted OUR, sometimes from the Utah State Capitol.
Gehrke describes it as a “symbiotic” relationship.
A video from a Davis County fundraiser in 2015 shows Reyes vouching for the nonprofit.
"I've sat on maybe over a dozen nonprofit boards during my career, and I know that there's a lot of corruption, there's a lot of fraud, there's a lot of ego in the nonprofit world," Reyes said to the crowd. "I saw none of that, and I really looked hard at Operation Underground Railroad. No way can you have the success that they've had. No way can you raise money like they have. No way can you have the media attention, unless they're doing something wrong. I looked long and hard, and I could find nothing wrong."
Ballard is now facing multiple criminal investigations. He “permanently separated” from OUR after multiple women came forward to accuse him of grooming and sexual misconduct.
Multiple OUR employees/ volunteers say he exaggerated, or lied, about saving children from human trafficking.
Donors say they were not aware their money was going to a psychic who claimed to be able to speak to a "dead Mormon prophet" for intel.
Reyes initially defended Ballard's use of a psychic.
The Davis County Attorney's Office opened a criminal investigation into Reyes because of his ties to OUR, asking questions about what the Utah AG's Office did with OUR money.
The investigation, which is at least partially concluded, did not result in any charges.
In December 2023, Reyes decided not to seek reelection – in part, due to his decade-long friendship with Ballard.
“I sat with these women,” Reyes said. “After hearing their stories, in person, I believe them.”
Ballard is also facing several civil lawsuits for sex assault despite multiple attempts to get judges to dismiss those cases.
Reyes said he is no longer friends with Ballard. He ordered a criminal probe into Ballard and OUR. He also apologized for his role in making Ballard’s accusers feel uncomfortable coming forward.
- Utah AG’s Office insists it has no bias related to investigation of ~$1 million donor
- Lawsuit accuses Utah AG Sean Reyes of using his office to silence OUR critics
Reyes spoke on a panel with Senator Mike Lee as part of the Utah Republican Latino Coalition on October 28, 2022.
A photo from an audience member shows him wearing shorts and a bandana.
"(He was) claiming he just (got) off an airplane and came straight to this event - he apologized for his attire saying he was rescuing children and didn't have time to change," the audience member said. "I thought it was odd - of course you had time to change clothes... was he just playing all of us?"
Another member of the public who has attended Reyes' speaking engagements shared similar experiences.
"I have been to two events in the past (six) years and both of them Sean (Reyes) showed up saying he just got off a plane from rescuing children," they said. "One of them he apologized for not shaving and having scruff saying he had just come straight from the airport... He definitely did not have a bandana on though, maybe he upped his game as time went on."
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, almost none of the events Reyes did with Ballard and OUR were reflected in the released version of the AG’s calendar. It’s unknown how many of those appointments, if any, were deemed “personal” and removed. Or if they simply were never placed onto the calendar.
Gehrke described that decision by the Utah AG’s Office as “surprising,” since Reyes used his political office to promote the nonprofit.
“Did we find the big bombshell that we thought we might find? No. That’s not there,” Gehrke said. “It kind of makes you wonder why they fought so hard to keep it private.”
Some of Reyes’ critics continue to question how much time he spends in Utah to represent the people who elected him.
“According to his calendar, which I know doesn’t tell the whole story, is he doing the public’s work 8 hours a day? Every day?” asked FOX 13 News investigative reporter Adam Herbets.
“Well, you certainly don’t get that from the calendar,” Gehrke responded.
Gehrke said the calendars show one of the overall themes of Reyes’ tenure in office was “people who are trying to ingratiate themselves with the attorney general.”
“They will take him on trips, or they will give him awards,” Gehrke said. “He gets something out of it too.”
The Salt Lake Tribune reports Reyes has used campaign money to go on at least 30 trips to high-end resorts across the country, in Mexico, and in Europe -- including a trip to Texas where he shot feral hogs with high-powered rifles from a helicopter.
According to a civil lawsuit, Reyes spent a significant amount of time at an "unofficial" office downtown, a members-only barbershop called Mac's Place where Reyes holds backdoor meetings while "sitting on a leather chair that Kanye West allegedly purchased for General Reyes, much like a mob boss runs his organization in a movie."
Gehrke said the Salt Lake Tribune found more than a dozen appointments at Mac's Place.
In 2022, the Qatari government paid for Reyes to come out and watch the World Cup.
The ticket, airfare, and lodging were all paid for by the Qatari government.
"I wouldn't have done it," said former Utah Attorney General Paul Van Dam, who held the position from 1989 to 1993. "If you're going to go to some exotic place, and they're going to pay for it, you better be prepared to be criticized... You certainly don’t want to be viewed as somebody who’s doing your job because you’re being rewarded outside of your pay."
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, it appears that appointments related to Qatar were also absent from Reyes’ calendar.
“Hard to argue that that was a ‘personal’ trip when he’s doing it exclusively because he is the attorney general,” Gehrke said.
Reyes has been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump. He not announced whether he is seeking a position in the Trump administration in 2025.