SALT LAKE CITY — New court documents filed in a civil lawsuit state Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes intimidated witnesses into not testifying against his longtime friend Tim Ballard.
The amended complaint was filed on Thursday as part of an ongoing lawsuit in which five women are suing Ballard and the nonprofit he founded, Operation Underground Railroad. The women say they were victims of sexual harassment, spiritual manipulation, grooming, and sexual misconduct.
Knowledge of sexual misconduct
The plaintiffs say Ballard used a technique called the “Couples Ruse” to justify he and the women doing “whatever it takes” to prevent detection by pedophiles during an operation.
That included, the plaintiffs write, practicing for a mission by working on their sexual chemistry through “tantric yoga, couples massages with escorts, and lap dancing.”
The amended complaint now states Reyes was aware of Ballard’s strategies.
“General Reyes participated in foreign OPS where the COUPLES RUSE was being implemented where he stayed at the same safe house as Ballard and his ‘ruse’ girlfriends, and was aware of the COUPLES RUSE, which given that General Reyes is the highest law enforcement officer in Utah, validated that the COUPLES RUSE was a legitimate law enforcement tactic.”
The documents can be found here.
While on practice runs at strip clubs, the lawsuit states Ballard participated in several sexual acts and consumed “excessive amounts of alcohol.”
“At the strip clubs, Ballard would pay for and receive lap dances, and ingest alcohol and pills at these practice (ruses) on OUR’s dime with donor monies... Ballard engaged in a ploy where he would tell the women that if they were offered alcohol, which is forbidden by the Mormon Church, that she should take the drink and then open mouth, kiss him and spit the alcohol into his mouth, and then he would spit it out when the traffickers were not looking.”
Reyes has denied having any knowledge of wrongdoing by Ballard.
The lawsuit states: "Many of these (operations) included wealthy men with no military training, who wanted an 'experience vacation' where they dropped into third-world countries to rescue trafficked children, with photo opportunities and stories in the local newspapers of their heroics, all the while flying first class... what most OPS consisted of was going to strip clubs and massage parlors across the world, after flying first class to get there, and staying at 5-star hotels, on boats, and at VRBOs across the globe.”
The lawsuit also implicates media personality Glenn Beck.
“Tim Ballard and Glenn Beck formed Defendant company Nazarene Fund to fight Christian causes across the globe, and Beck gave Ballard almost unlimited access to the Glenn Beck media network, which further contributed to Ballard’s credibility... Beck, along with Attorney General Reyes, (who should have been looking at arresting and prosecuting Tim Ballard after the sexual assaults and fund raising being thrown upon the citizens of the state of Utah by Tim Ballard), became a fixer for Tim Ballard when the extent of his sexual depravity became known to the Mormon Church.”
Neither Beck nor Reyes have been listed as defendants in the lawsuit, although the Nazarene Fund was named.
“Since learning of Ballard’s implementation of the COUPLES RUSE, Glenn Beck called it ‘really bad stuff’ and feels duped by Ballard,” according to the lawsuit.
Mike Green, one of the attorneys who represents the plaintiffs, said in October that they do anticipate naming additional defendants. He would not say who.
Allegations of witness tampering
According to the lawsuit, Reyes was aware of complaints raised against OUR but chose to “step in” and “intimidate the complainants... rather than investigate what OUR and Tim Ballard were doing.”
Reyes, Ballard, and OUR were under criminal investigation by the Davis County Attorney’s Office and FBI.
The investigation was at least partially concluded without the filing of charges.
Both the FBI and Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings declined to comment.
The documents further state Rawlings “believed that General Reyes ‘was guilty of witness tampering,’” and that Rawlings had proof.
“Rawlings alleged to have written communications from AG Reyes to a witness requesting the witness not to cooperate with Rawlings.”
The source for these allegations stem from a memo written by OUR attorneys who described a meeting with Rawlings on Dec. 22, 2022.
“Rawlings (also) alleged that Ballard’s wife, Katherine Ballard, was guilty of witness tampering. Rawlings alleged Katherine had attempted to influence a witness not to cooperate with Rawlings in the investigation,” according to the memo.
OUR and Ballard disputed the allegations, according to OUR attorneys.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office released a statement on Friday, also disputing the allegations.
“AG Reyes categorically denies that he ever intimidated any witness or attempted in any way to interfere or keep witnesses from testifying or cooperating with an investigation by the Davis County Attorney or any other agency. These allegations in paragraph 55 are false, defamatory per se and unethical as they are based on pure speculation and have no basis in fact... The AGO would never open a case that the Davis County DA and FBI were already investigating over a two-year span. Since the time the FBI and Davis County Attorney closed their investigations with no charges being filed, no complainant has come forward to the AGO seeking a further criminal investigation, not even the civil complainants in this case. So, any suggestion in paragraph 55 that the AG or AGO were or are withholding an investigation into OUR or Tim Ballard is completely baseless.”
Request for a special prosecutor
The lawsuit refers to Reyes as the “de facto general counsel” for OUR.
Plaintiffs attached a document showing how OUR asked Reyes for “a special prosecutor be appointed to prosecute (Davis County Attorney) Troy Rawlings.”
The 28-page letter refers to Rawlings as a “rogue prosecutor” for pursuing a criminal investigation into OUR and Ballard. It includes multiple references to reporting by FOX 13 News, including a photo of FOX 13 News investigative reporter Adam Herbets.
It’s unclear whether the unsigned and undated letter was ever sent to Reyes.
Neither Reyes nor the Utah Attorney General’s Office have responded to FOX 13 News’ questions about the letter.
Allegations of forwarding complaints
The lawsuit states Reyes used his personal email address to “immediately send” fraud complaints to Ballard “on his personal email, instead of his official Utah email.”
Attorneys for the plaintiffs attached one exhibit, an email from "reyes.seand@gmail.com" to "timblainballard@gmail.com."
The email has the following subject line: "Fwd: FW: URGENT: Theater financial fraud of Pay-it-Forward of 'Sound of Freedom.'"
Neither Reyes nor the Utah Attorney General’s Office have responded to FOX 13 News’ questions surrounding this allegation.
Allegations of Tim Ballard lying about his role with the CIA
According to OUR’s attorneys, the criminal investigation into Ballard included information that he was an “unpaid intern” with the CIA who failed a polygraph test and was fired.
Neither Reyes nor the Utah Attorney General’s Office have responded to FOX 13 News’ questions surrounding his knowledge of this allegation.
An article once published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints referred to Ballard as a “former CIA operative.”
Ballard’s Twitter (X) bio states: “Former CIA & DHS: Undercover Operator.”
In February, Ballard clarified in an interview with FOX 13 News that his role with the CIA was behind the scenes.
He referred to his job as an “analyst/ officer position.”
“It wasn’t, like, hands on,” Ballard said. “All the cool stuff I ever did was with (Homeland Security Investigations).”