Davin R. IRVINE ATTORNEY AND COUNSELOR AT LAW [A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION suite 130 TELEPHONE: (801) 379-0800 747 East SOUTH TEMPLE STREET ‘TeLecorier: (801) $79-0801 SALT LAKE CIty, UTAH 84102 EMAIL: ORIRVINE@AOL,COM November 3, 2017 ‘Ms. Teena Horlacher 2532 South 1300 West Syracuse, UT 84075 VIA U.S. Mail and teenahorlacher@msn.com Re: Press Release Dated November 2, 2017 Dear Ms. Horlacher: represent Mr. Robert Anderson, Chair of the Utah State Republican Party, and I have received and reviewed a press release issued by you in your capacity as Chair of the Davis County Republican Party on November 2, 2017. Your actions and the press release are, in a word, preposterous; and they are an egregious abuse of your position as DCRP Chair, as well as an ultra vires use of party procedures and functionaries to besmirch and cause reputational harm to my client. J represented Mr. Anderson before the Party’s so-called ethics committee in February 2016. Your press release characterizes my advice to the committee as a threat to file suit “because of a loophole which left ethics committee members vulnerable due to lack of protection from potential lawsuits.” That, however, is a mischaracterization of the position I presented, as I’m sure you fully know. The basis for my warning of a lawsuit to follow was the fact that the committee had no jurisdiction to investigate Mr. ‘Anderson under the governing documents of the DCRP unless there was a complaint that he hiad (while a party officer) endorsed a candidate from another political party or that he had endorsed a Republican candidate prior to a primary election or convention nomination. Lacking either of those, the committee ‘was proceeding in violation of your governing documents. You, your associates, and the ethics committee cannot just arbitrarily make up supposed “ethics violations” because it suits someone's private agenda. “The proceeding was farcical 18 months ago, and its latest iteration has not improved upon its fundamental flaws, There was no action taken on a timely basis 18 months ago. Mr. Anderson ceased to ‘be an officer of the DCRP when he was clected State Chair nearly six months ago, and you and your colleagues have evidently proceeded to re-open a dead issue secretly and without notice to my client or an ‘opportunity to be heard. Your cabal is a violation of any reasonable standard of due process — which, 1 am certain, you also know full well. There are no sanctions available to you, because he’s been out of DCRP office nearly six months. ‘This has every appearance of a retaliatory move to besmirch his reputation because of your disagreement with his decision, as State Chair, to pull the plug on a lawsuit challenging SB 54 that threatens to bankrupt the state party. You are on record as a zealous opponent of SB 54 as it was codified into state law. Your personal animus and enmity toward my client is well-known. No coincidence then that your press release was conveniently timed to be weaponized against him at a State Central ‘Committee meeting in Park City tomorrow. It was simply a political stunt to advance a personal grudge. This letter is notice to you that if there is no apology for your smear press release, or if any investigative findings and conclusions are now issued, 18 months after the matter was, for all intents andpurposes dropped, or if your press release contributes in any way to any damaging action against him in his current position, the lawsuit | was prepared to file in February 2016 will assuredly follow. ‘On behalf of my client, I am requesting that you provide me with all documents generated by you, your fellow officers , and all members of the ethics committee which relate to the “investigation” you claim has been in progress prior to November 2, 2017. Please provide all such documents promptly, to include any findings, conclusions, and recommendation of the ethics committee, and any “additional recommendations” as to a “remedy.” Further, inasmuch as litigation is likely to follow your wanton action, you should retain counsel, who can advise you of the necessity to avoid destruction of all documents and to avoid deletion or erasure of all electronic communications, whether by e-mail, instant messaging, or otherwise, between and among, you, your other officers, and members of the ethics committee related to everything that has transpired ‘with respect to the earlier investigation, or the acts and actions which led to issuance of your press release. Any such destruction or deletion of evidence is considered a separate crimiyal violation under Utah Code § 76-8-510.5. You may also wish to contact your insurance carrier to ascertain the degree of indemnification the carrier will provide in instances where you and your colleagues have acted outside the scope of your authority procedurally, and where you have deliberately, intentionally, and knowingly defamed and caused reputational damage someone you have no authority to investigate or sanction. Additionally, please provide me with the names and addresses of the members of your ethics, committee. Sincerely yours, David R. Irvine