SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Attorney General's Office has filed misdemeanor charges against a man who worked for Bruce Hough's campaign gathering signatures to get him on the ballot in the Second Congressional District special election.
Timothy Mooney was charged on Thursday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court with two counts of class A misdemeanor violation of certificate nomination procedures. It centers around how signatures were paid for. Under Utah election law, you can pay for signatures at an hourly rate or per verified signature but not for a gross amount of signatures.
Mooney is accused of paying $16 per gross signature, paying a subcontractor around $58,000.
The investigation was initiated by Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson's office. The Utah Attorney General's Office said Thursday it was still investigating the subcontractors.
In a statement to FOX 13 News, Mooney's attorney said he denies the allegations and found out about the charges from the press.
"After cooperating with the Utah Attorney General’s Office to investigate others, their investigators misconstrued what we provided them to improperly use it against Mr. Mooney. These investigators never advised Mr. Mooney of his constitutional rights and led us to believe that Mr. Mooney was not a target of their investigation," his attorney, David Billings, said in an email.
"Mr. Mooney did not directly hire or pay any petition circulators in Utah. Neither he nor any company he runs ever paid a person to gather signatures. His firm pays companies, who in turn hire canvassers to gather signatures. Before Mr. Mooney’s firm pays those companies, it verifies signatures to ensure their validity, and then submits the signatures to election administrators. Mr. Mooney’s contracts clearly state that signature gatherers are to be paid hourly and advises these companies that criminal penalties exist for violations of Utah law. We will vigorously defend Mr. Mooney against these factually and legally baseless charges."
Russ Walker, Hough's campaign manager, told FOX 13 News he hired Mooney and was happy with his work. The signature-gathering issue would not have impacted Hough's qualification for the Republican primary ballot earlier this year, as the Lt. Governor's Office verifies whether a signature is valid or not.
"We have a very good working relationship with Tim," Walker said. "We're grateful for the product he produced."
Hough and Becky Edwards gathered signatures to earn a spot on the Republican primary ballot, as Utah election law allows. Both ultimately lost to Celeste Maloy, who won the nomination at the GOP convention. Maloy ended up winning the special election to replace Congressman Chris Stewart.
In a statement late Thursday, Lt. Gov. Henderson's office said it is a reminder for anyone signature-gathering to "learn, understand and follow Utah election law."
"For example: It is illegal to sign any name other than your own on a petition; Signature gatherers can be paid by the hour or for each verified signature. It is illegal for them to be paid for the gross number of signatures they gather; Gatherers must personally witness each signature on the petition," the office said.
