Is Dave Bateman the Utah Republican Party’s financial savior, or its new strings-attached lender?

Dave Bateman, CEO of the Entrata software company, earlier this year was ballyhooed as a savior of the Utah Republican Party for extinguishing a $410,000 legal debt that threatened to bankrupt it.It turns out that he is less of a benevolent big donor than a lender who “acquired the debt” from party lawyers — for about 40 cents on the dollar — with some strings attached that may surprise party moderates.Bateman makes it clear that he may force the party to pay him the debt