“It’s a fickle business, politics,” says Utah US Attorney of firing

SALT LAKE CITY — You’re cruising along in your job, you like, and just like that: You’re fired. 

US Attorney for Utah John Huber joined Dave Noriega and Debbie Dujanovic to talk about his time putting criminals behind bars and bringing justice to victims in Utah.

Appointed by President Obama in 2015, Huber offered his resignation in March 2017 at the request of the Trump administration, but was re-nominated by then-President Trump later that year.

Then, on Feb. 8, 2021, the Biden administration asked Huber and 55 other Trump-era attorneys to resign.

“I have worked for three presidents, two of whom have fired me. That’s not a great batting average,” Huber said.

“This isn’t totally uncommon when a president changes or especially if it’s a different party to ask for resignations [of US attorneys],” Dave said.

“It’s not, but it is becoming more common and expected. . . . it’s the life of a presidential appointee. It’s a fickle business, politics,” Huber said.

John and Debbie

“John and I worked together when I was the FBI spokesperson,” Debbie said,  “John, you don’t know this about you, but I walked into a conference room, and there you were presenting a case. We were discussing a massive white-collar crime fraud case that affected lots and lots of Utahns. They lost a lot of money. You left after a couple of hours. The FBI agents in the room turned to me and said, ‘Debbie, you don’t know him yet, but John Huber will stop at nothing to get justice for these victims.’ And, we’re losing you as US attorney, John, and it breaks my heart.”

“Well, I’m pretty sad myself, Debbie. But, you know, I put my heart and soul into this for the last six years and 20 more years before that as a prosecutor,” Huber said. “It’s hard when someone flips the switch and just turns it off. It’s quite a jolt. But you know, I like to look at the time I was able to serve, and the difference that my partners and I made for Utah to keep people safe, to bring justice to victims.”

US Attorney: Taking a bite out of crime in Utah

Huber discussed with Dave and Debbie some of the more prominent Utah crime cases he helped close as US Attorney.

“We had a Utahn selling military secrets to the Chinese for hundreds of thousands of dollars. We stopped that.

“I had the privilege of prosecuting Utah’s first and only international terrorist who came through Utah. He shopped for bomb materials at my Lowe’s [store], at the Walmart, where people in my neighborhood shop, and [he] worked for the Taliban. We got him as well, so it’s been quite a run,” Huber said.

 

Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app, a.s well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.