Freedom Caucus lawmaker Bear accepted controversial campaign check from activist; other legislators remain mum

CHEYENNE—The former head of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus and chairman of one of the Legislature’s most powerful committees told a reporter Monday that he, too, had accepted a check from a conservative activist.

“Yes, I did,” Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, said in the House lobby. 

But Bear said he did not accept the check on the House floor.

Last week, news broke that conservative activist Rebecca Bextel distributed campaign-donation checks to lawmakers on the House floor, raising questions about optics, potential legislative misconduct and even the legality of such an exchange. 

The news also raised other questions, including which lawmakers accepted a check — and when.

Don Grasso, a Teton County donor, told a reporter Friday he’d written $1,500 checks to 10 Republicans before handing them over to Rebecca Bextel, a Jackson woman who has focused this session on dismantling affordable and workforce housing tools she deems “unconstitutional.” 

Those legislators included: Bear, House Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Hulett; Reps. Marlene Brady, R-Green River; Gary Brown, R-Cheyenne; Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette; Tony Locke, R-Casper; Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs; and Joe Webb, R-Lyman; as well as Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper. Former Sheridan lawmaker Mark Jennings was also on Grasso’s list. Each of the 10 Republicans has a tie to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. 

Grasso said last week he expected his secretary to mail the checks, not for Bextel to hand-deliver them in Cheyenne. Bextel admitted to hand-delivering the checks, but has denied any wrongdoing. The Wyoming House and Senate are now investigating the incident, along with the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office.

Until today, only two legislators — McCann and Webb — had publicly admitted to accepting such donations from Bextel on the House floor. 

That changed when Bear spoke with a reporter. When first asked when and where he received the check, Bear said, “I’m going to let the committee handle all that. I don’t want to talk to the press about all that stuff, because [the committee is] going to have a great outcome.” 

Bear said the campaign checks shouldn’t have an effect on the Legislature’s work this session. 

“I think it’s just a smear campaign,” he said in response to a question about the ongoing investigation or actions that the Legislature is taking right now.

He said he was disappointed in how the checks had “been a distraction.” 

Bear clarified that he didn’t receive a check on the floor. 

When Rep. Mike Yin broached the subject of the checks on the House floor Wednesday, Bear was among the lawmakers to rebuke the Jackson Democrat, accusing him of making “offensive” accusations “that cannot be substantiated.” Bear did not specify Monday whether he’d received Bextel’s check before or after his rebuke of Yin.

Yin was concerned that the House was about to vote on a housing bill Bextel supported after possibly handing out checks to lawmakers two days prior. That bill, House Bill 141, “Fifth Amendment Protection Act,” is being sponsored this session by Bear. The town of Jackson and Teton County officials say the measure would eliminate a key source of funding for the community’s affordable housing programs. Bear maintains his bill would limit local governments’ ability to enforce mitigation fees, which he says infringe on private property rights.

Along with Bear, Speaker Neiman also raised questions Wednesday as to whether Yin’s accusation could be substantiated. 

“I hadn’t received anything on the floor,” Bear told a reporter Monday after being asked why he didn’t address the checks after Yin spoke on the floor last Wednesday. “I would always assume nothing would happen on the floor. It caught me by surprise.” 

Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, went so far as to register a “protest” against Yin in the House. 

Rogriguez-Williams, chair of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, accused Yin of making “an allegation of quid pro quo” and “a defamatory statement.” Distributing checks on the House floor “essentially would be bribery and unethical,” she said. 

She was not named as an intended recipient of Grasso’s checks. 

Lawmakers decline comment

Other lawmakers named by Grasso were less forthcoming when approached by a reporter Monday. Reps. Knapp and Locke both declined to confirm whether they received a check, saying they would not comment until the House investigatory committee completed its work. Rep. Brady declined altogether to comment. Last week, she told a reporter she couldn’t remember when asked what Bextel had handed her on the House floor.

The remaining representatives Grasso named did not respond to requests for comment by publishing time, including Speaker Neiman and Reps. Webb and Brown. 

When lawmakers debated the motion to launch an investigation, Knapp called it “a knee-jerk reaction,” and suggested the House hand the investigation over to the Legislative Service Office. 

“We’re not [an] investigative body. We’re not a criminal body,” Knapp said.

The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office announced over the weekend it had launched a criminal investigation to determine whether the checks constituted bribery. 

“Our community deserves full transparency, and alleged criminal conduct involving our lawmakers deserves no less than a thorough investigation,” Sheriff Brian Kozak said in a Saturday statement.

Rep. Webb acknowledged in a Sunday social media post that he had received a campaign-donation check on the House floor. 

“I was one of them,” Webb said. “All I will say until things are over is, I welcome the investigation and my conscience is clear.” 

Webb did not speak up in the House when his legislative colleagues accused Yin of making unsubstantiated claims. 

“I think it’s disappointing to see more people not standing up,” Yin told a reporter Monday. “But I think that drives to the point that money has a lot of power. And when we’re in a state where campaigns don’t cost very much, $1,500 is a lot of money. $15,000 in a bag is a lot of money to bring to the floor of the House.” 

The House motion to launch an investigatory committee tasked the House speaker with selecting its seven committee members. Neiman named those members last week. 

“I do think that the Speaker wanted to find a way to appoint a committee that he could put beyond reproach,” Yin said. 

Whether Neiman accomplished that, Yin said, was made more difficult by the fact that the Wyoming Freedom Caucus makes up a majority of the House. And one of the committee members, Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River, is a founding member of the caucus. 

“So having someone from that block, it’s still tough,” Yin said. “Everything is nuanced, right? It’s complicated.” 

Grasso also said he wrote a check for Mark Jennings, a former lawmaker, who intends to run for House District 30. 

“I have not received a check,” Jennings said via text Monday. “I have only heard rumors of one being written.”

Jennings added that he was not aware of any law or rule having been broken, “only the spin of the left leaning media trying to gin up a story about conservatives.” 

“While the optics of the situation were not great, and better judgment could have been used, once again, I’m not aware of any law or rule that was broken,” Jennings said. 

Dana Jennings, Mark’s wife, is a reporter for The Open Range Record, a media company co-owned by Bextel, according to the Legislative Service Office’s roster of credentialed media. 

The upper chamber

In the Senate, Grasso named only one lawmaker: Ide of Casper. The first-term senator told a reporter Wednesday he’d “rather not discuss anything at this point.” He also didn’t respond to an email with questions before press time. 

Senate leaders confirmed Thursday after a Senate Rules Committee meeting that at least one senator was offered a check by Bextel in the Capitol. They had a check in their possession. Senate President Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, said that the upper chamber was conducting its own investigation.

At the time, they declined to say who the lawmaker was or how many senators they suspected of receiving a check from Bextel.

“Can we also say that I think that the person who received the check acted in a most honorable and appropriate manner?” Senate Minority Floor Leader Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, said. 

On Friday, a leader showed a reporter a photo of a $1,500 check they had in their possession from Grasso. The committee member blocked out the recipient’s name with their finger to protect their identity. The memo line was left blank. 

Senate response

So far, the Senate Rules Committee has met twice and proposed a ban on campaign contributions in the Senate, including people giving senators contributions in the Capitol and lawmakers receiving them while the Legislature is in session. For lawmakers, it would extend past the Capitol walls. The proposal, passed 5-0 by the committee on Friday, is supposed to go before the entire Senate.

The Senate Rules Committee is set to meet again Monday night.

All 31 senators also signed onto a letter “unequivocally” condemning “the practice of distributing campaign contributions to legislators during the legislative session while measures affecting the donors, clients or interests are actively under consideration.” It was read aloud in the Senate chamber Friday. 

“While lawful political participation is a protected and important component of our democratic system, the Senate expects all participants in the legislative process, including lobbyists and principals, to exercise sound judgment and adhere to the highest ethical standards,” the letter stated. “It is the duty of each member of the Wyoming Senate to uphold and enforce these standards of general conduct and to ensure that the integrity of this fund is not compromised by actions that blur the line between advocacy and undue influence.” 

Back in Jackson

The Teton County Republican Party expressed support for the Senate’s letter and said the GOP “looks forward to future steps taken by the Legislature to uphold ethical practices in Wyoming politics,” according to a press release sent out Saturday on Bextel’s actions.

“The TCRP had no prior knowledge of who the alleged checks were for, who they were from, or what they were intended for,” Teton County GOP Chair Kat Rueckert said in the press release. “Bextel acted on her own accord. We will trust the legislative process and await the results of an official investigation. Bextel, like many others, traveled to Cheyenne for the Legislative Budget session.”

Rueckert said the Teton County GOP appreciates these individuals, but “their conduct should reflect what we expect from our lawmakers.

“Bextel’s statements, conduct, and actions are not a reflection of the intent or posture of the Teton County Republican Party,” she said.

She said the “tenacity” to hold elected and unelected individuals accountable is crucial and that the “drive to uncover policies that handcuff private property owners is admirable.” 

“The way to show the downfall of our system is not by false innuendo, but by putting false characters on full display,” she concluded. “Don’t let this story detract from the truth. We are being split by Party lines, we are being played by mainstream media, and we are being condemned by one another.” 

What now?

Neiman named Casper Republican Rep. Art Washut as chairman of the investigatory committee. 

Washut, a retired police officer, told a reporter Monday that the committee had not yet scheduled its first meeting. He said it’s “a rather fluid situation.” 

“When we convene, we only have four days after that to have a report back,” he said. “So, we have to be really thoughtful about when we actually convene.” 

While the motion that created the committee does not specify when proceedings would begin, it does direct the committee to report its findings and final recommendation to the House no “later than the fourth legislative day following the date the special committee was convened.”

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Correction: This story has been corrected to update remarks by Rep. John Bear. He used the words “smear campaign,” not “smoking gun.”