Twitter account controversy In 2022,
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Lee was behind a Twitter account that promoted election and coronavirus conspiracy theories and attacked women and LGBTQ individuals.
Pride Month controversy In June 2025, during
Pride Month, the
Utah Mammoth NHL hockey team posted a message on X that said "Happy Pride!" with the team logo rendered in the colors of the Pride Flag. Lee replied to the tweet, claiming "Utahns overwhelmingly don't support pride month." He then said to "watch for some significant legislation this next session that pushes back onto these woke groups!" When
KSL-TV requested an interview with Lee, he declined and would not discuss the legislation, saying "you'll have to wait and see" and that the Utah Legislature "will be putting a stop to entities that will take taxpayer money from pushing political agendas." In a later tweet, he claimed "'Pride' is about promoting the social acceptance of gay sex, transgender child mutilation and various other forms of iniquity. Its premise is that they are not just not sinful, but worthy of celebration." A 2024 survey by the
Public Religion Research Institute found that 86% of Utahns expressed support for LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections.
Check fraud and abuse of power allegations In April 2026, two business owners who formerly employed Lee spoke out against Lee and his reelection campaign. • In 2013, while employed as a sales manager in North Carolina for a pest control company owned by Jason Walton, Lee altered multiple checks by increasing the paid amounts, totaling about $3,100. Walton stated that he chose not to press charges after Lee signed an admission of guilt. • Trent Spafford, the owner of a water treatment company, alleged that in 2024, while Lee was employed there as a sales consultant, he requested paycheck advances totaling $93,000 to help with financing on his home. After Spafford informed Lee that he would no longer be issuing him any advances, Lee allegedly suggested that he use his position as a legislator could get Spafford government contracts providing water treatment services for
Hill Air Force Base and Utah public schools. In response, Lee publicly admitted that Walton's allegations were true, calling it a "grave error" which he "deeply regretted." However, he denied Spafford's allegations.
Mike Schultz, Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, referred the matter to the
Utah Attorney General for further investigation. A few days later, at the
Davis County Republican Party nominating convention, a majority (55%) of delegates voted for his opponent, county commissioner
Bob Stevenson. However, he still earned enough support to appear in the primary election in June. == Personal life ==