During a fundraising stop in Salt Lake City last month, former president Donald Trump gave two attendees a mandate: I want you to head up a “Latter-day Saints for Trump” coalition, he said.

The two men were not among the prominent politicians in attendance, nor were they leaders with Trump’s faith-based coalitions in past election cycles. One of the men seemed a natural fit for the task, with a long resume of political experience. The other, man, however, is a newcomer to the political scene — but is quickly building a network of influence that reaches far beyond Utah.

Doug Quezada, a California-born businessman and entrepreneur, is one of the men who helped organize Trump’s Utah fundraiser and spearhead the “Latter-day Saints for Trump” coalition. A close ally of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, Quezada burst onto the Utah political scene as an influential figure in Reyes’ circle. In recent years, Quezada — alongside his father-in-law, Simon Hodson — has developed relationships with powerbrokers in Texas and West Virginia through their clean energy company, Omnis Global Technologies.

Donald Trump Jr. visited Utah over the first weekend in October with some Utah Republicans including Sean Reyes, Rob Axson, Doug Quezada and Mike Schultz. | Courtesy of Doug Quezada

But questions remain about the extent of Quezada’s influence in Utah politics — and the validity of his company’s promises.

Quezada, the son of Chilean immigrants, moved to Utah from Seattle, he said in an appearance on “The Bottom Line” podcast in 2022. “To say I’ve been politically inactive before would be an untruth,” he said. “I’ve always cared about politics. I just haven’t been moved the way I’ve been moved recently because of what I’m seeing.”

Quezada felt the need to get involved in local politics after learning about the “blatantly evil” accusations against a former Utah County Attorney, he said. Quezada developed a relationship with Reyes over their mutual interest in combating human trafficking.

Unlike other members of the “Latter-day Saints for Trump” coalition, who have garnered large public profiles as officeholders or activists, Quezada’s influence has largely been behind the scenes. He has participated in fundraisers for and private events, and alongside Trump, Quezada attended a Memorial Day wreath-laying service at Arlington National Cemetery that drew national headlines.

The organization is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has a strict policy of political neutrality and does not endorse parties or candidates. Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has also reached out to Latter-day Saints through coalitions in Arizona and Nevada.

Quezada’s most visible position is as executive vice president of Omnis Energy, where his father-in-law, Simon Hodson, is CEO. The company asserts it has the technological capability to transform coal into clean-burning hydrogen, without emitting any greenhouse gasses. The state of West Virginia provided a $50 million, 1% loan to retrofit a coal-fired power plant and revitalize it as a net-zero energy plant. But the company “hasn’t publicly demonstrated that its clean-energy technology will work,” the Wall Street Journal reported, even as it garners support from West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and motivational speaker Tony Robbins, who lent nearly $200 million to the initiative.

The company has faced legal challenges: In an active case in a Pennsylvania district court, a former Omnis vice president is suing the company for “ongoing efforts to defraud government officials for investment funds.” Two other lawsuits in New York and California courts — both settled out of court — alleged Hodson defaulted on loans.

Quezada insisted that the company’s technology is “working.”

“Obviously, we’re still ramping up,” Quezada said. Omnis Energy did not respond to a request for comment.

Independent of his role with Omnis Energy, Quezada faces “claims for fraud, securities fraud, conversion, unjust enrichment, and civil conspiracy” in a lawsuit before a U.S. district court in Utah. In July, U.S. Judge David Barlow denied a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which alleges Quezada offered to purchase more than $168,000 in shares of a cannabis company for a friend and manage the portfolio. The lawsuit alleges Quezada did not invest the money, but used it for personal or business purposes.

When asked about the lawsuit, Quezada said it was a “shakedown” and claimed the plaintiffs are attempting to “weaponize the legal system against others.”

“I’m confident the law will play out the way it needs to, but I wasn’t willing to reward lies and a shakedown with a payout,” he said. “I was willing to let it ride out because that’s really the only way my name gets cleared. Not by paying people to go away.”

Quezada’s lawyer, John Mertens, added that the discovery process “has not produced any proof of the allegations that (the plaintiffs) have made, and I don’t expect it to,” he said. “I don’t expect them to have any proof of these claims.”

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The legal challenges have not seemed to impede Quezada from his participation in Trump’s campaign. Quezada was a lead organizer for Trump’s Sept. 14 fundraiser in Salt Lake City, an event that was canceled and rescheduled multiple times. When the event was canceled the second time, Taylor Binkley, a regional finance director for the Republican National Committee, thanked Quezada and others for being “loyal supporters of the President” and “close friends,” according to a copy of the email obtained by the Deseret News.

Quezada also helped organize the formal “Latter-day Saints for Trump” coalition, working with the Trump campaign to solicit testimonials from Latter-day Saint endorses and to organize a launch event. When Donald Trump Jr. visited Utah in early October to strategize about the launch, Quezada was among the people he visited with; when Donald Trump participated in a Latter-day Saint-focused event in Prescott, Arizona, this month, Quezada met with him, according to a post on Quezada’s Instagram account.

A press release from the Trump campaign announcing the “Latter-day Saints for Trump” coalition listed Quezada — “Executive Vice President, Omnis Energy” — as a co-chair, with a quote: “I proudly stand by President Trump in his efforts to uphold our religious liberties, protect our family-centered values, and keep America safe from the evils of communism and ‘progressive’ ideologies,” Quezada wrote. “As the son of immigrants who fled the devastating consequences of Marxism and social experiments in Latinoamérica, supporting Trump’s fight for the American dream isn’t just a spiritual mandate, but also a personal one. Every freedom-loving Christian should participate in this election like their way of life depends on it, and they should promote policies and leaders that reaffirm that family and God — not collectivism and government — are the fundamental units of our society.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

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