Alerted that some members felt the Utah National Guard had an “extremely dangerous” climate, Gov. Spencer Cox first asked for an investigation into the state’s top military commander in 2021.
Cox spoke privately with Adjutant General Michael Turley — and no one else in the guard — before dropping the inquiry, according to documents and accounts from the governor’s office, telling Turley to survey his own troops about the environment under his leadership.
Newly released records now show Cox asked for a second investigation of Turley in 2022. But after his administration spoke with Turley, Turley’s counsel, and two employees of the more than 7,000-member guard, Cox again closed the investigation.
It wasn’t until the Army wrapped up its own independent investigation of Turley in 2023 — two years after guard members told Cox in multiple anonymous letters that Turley had allegedly mishandled sexual misconduct complaints and made violent threats — that the governor’s administration began asking troops about their commander.
A half dozen guard members backed the allegations made in the letters that Turley didn’t properly address sexual misconduct, investigative records recently obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune show. They told Cox’s administration in individual interviews last year that the discipline Turley handed down was lighter than is typically administered in the military.
In one example, a witness said, “Turley accepted a letter of resignation for an [redacted] officer who was having an inappropriate relationship [redacted] instead of imposing discipline.”
Utah’s report said “it is speculated by those interviewed that General Turley was lenient in these cases because of his own relationship that was under investigation” by the Department of the Army Inspector General.
As part of that investigation, Turley “was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, among other allegations,” an attorney for Turley told lawmakers at a committee meeting in January. After the Army inquiry ended with a substantiated finding, Cox fired Turley last August. The ex-adjutant general has denied the claims.
Guard members interviewed by the state in 2023 also told the governor’s investigator that Turley was “isolating himself” and had become “disconnected” and “compromised,” according to the records.
The interviews — and records about the two narrow investigations that were dropped — were released to The Tribune this week. The Utah State Records Committee had earlier ordered the release of the investigative records and recently approved an order agreed upon by Cox’s attorneys and The Tribune. That agreement was reached after a monthslong appeals process involving both the Division of Human Resource Management and Cox’s legal counsel.
This week, an officer who worked at the Utah National Guard’s headquarters in Draper and interacted with Turley was critical of Cox’s decision against pursuing a broader investigation in 2021 and 2022.
”For the governor to be like, ‘OK, we’re good,’ [after talking with the adjutant general and ordering a survey] is a complete manipulation of an investigative process,” said the officer, who The Tribune interviewed and agreed not to identify because they fear retaliation. The Tribune independently confirmed the officer’s role in the guard.
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