Waddoups: UHP 'Acted in Good Faith'

In response to this AP article, Senate Pres. Michael Waddoups says: "When Governor Huntsman announced he would be leaving his post, I noticed an additional security presence watching after the Lt. Governor. It made sense. ... At the time, I called the governor's staff to encourage the added security to continue. [On Thursday] the AP found a piece of the Utah Code of which I was previously unaware. It says Executive Protection will be given to the governor and his immediate family. Security can be extended to others but must be renewed every 15 days by a majority vote of three people: the Commissioner, the Speaker, and me. That makes sense too -- it's a good check-and-balance to ensure executive power is not abused. I think the UHP acted with common sense and in good faith. Obviously, we need to comply with the law and should have done a formal authorization. Had we done so, I would have voted to approve it, and I'm sure the Speaker would have done the same."