Senate President Stuart Adams didn’t sponsor and didn’t weigh in on a bill, passed last year, that included a provision reducing penalties for 18-year-olds in high school who engage in sexual acts with 13-year-olds. But that provision wasn’t written into the bill until after Adams had briefed the senate majority leader about his relative, whose case precisely matched the details of the law change. As a result, Adams' relative received more lenient treatment than they would have otherwise. What Adams did, say critics, wasn't just the normal business of a citizen legislator, it was corruption, and they've called for his resignation. The senate president says he did nothing wrong, and that he has no intention to step down. While controversy in Utah politics may be nothing new, Salt Lake Tribune reporter Robert Gehrke says that in nearly three decades of covering politics in the state, he’s never encountered a story quite like this.
Guests –
Robert Gehrke | Politics reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune
Paul Cassell | Professor of Criminal Law at S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.
Airdate: Thurs. Aug., 21, 2025 at 9 a.m. and Sat. Aug., 23, 2025 at 11 a.m.