Bextel, lawmakers maintain no wrongdoing as Wyoming House panel questions witnesses

Rebecca Bextel, the Teton County conservative activist at the center of the Checkgate controversy that has come to dominate the 2026 legislative session, covered a lot of ground Thursday night. 

Bextel was the final witness to testify during the House Special Investigative Committee’s inaugural meeting, which ran more than five hours. The House unanimously voted earlier this month to launch the investigation after Bextel walked onto the House floor and hand-delivered checks from a Teton County donor to four representatives after lawmakers had finished work on the session’s first day. 

Sitting at the center of the Historic Supreme Court Chambers, Bextel spoke about her fundraising prowess and her ambition to double the $400,000 she said she raised for Republican candidates in 2024. 

She lamented losing the chairmanship for the Wyoming Republican Party “by just a few votes” last May, and she reminisced on a recent “romantic vacation” she took with her husband to Mexico shortly before the session convened. 

Bextel begrudged “developers enriching themselves,” mitigation fees designed to fund affordable housing and the two rocks she said were thrown through her windows in Jackson on account of becoming “the public face” of opposing such fees. 

Bextel described herself as a “fly-by-your-seat kind of girl,” and the type of person who “crosses the street” in Jackson to avoid running into Democratic Rep. Liz Storer. That last detail got a chuckle out of committee member Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River, who smiled as Bextel took shots at the “fake news media,” Democrats writ large and what she called “counterfeit Republicans.” 

Bextel, however, told the seven-member committee she had “trouble recalling” certain details directly related to the question at hand — did she hand out campaign checks to lawmakers on the House floor and did those actions constitute bribery? Questions about the checks first arose during a legislative debate on House Bill 141, which would outlaw the type of mitigation fees for affordable housing that she opposes.

Bextel said “I don’t recall” when questioned if she had asked Rep. Nina Webber, R-Cody, to escort her onto the House floor on the night of Feb. 9. She said she could not recall what, if anything, she had said to Reps. Marlene Brady, R-Green River, Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs, or Joe Webb, R-Lyman, when she handed them checks for $1,500 from Don Grasso, a “mega Republican donor” in her words, who lives in Jackson. 

Bextel said she may have said “Hi, how are you?” when she handed a check for the same amount to Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette. 

Nevertheless, Bextel denied any wrongdoing. 

“My only intention was to expeditiously hand candidates checks,” Bextel said. 

At the same time, Bextel told the committee she had not “premeditated” handing out checks on the floor. 

Committee Chairman Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper, questioned that point. 

According to Wyoming Highway Patrol security footage, only about 10 seconds passed between Bextel walking onto the floor and handing out a check to Webb. 

“If it wasn’t an intentional plan on your part, that’s an awfully brief amount of time,” Washut said. “Can you explain why, in just 10 seconds, you went from just coming on the floor for no particular reason, to handing out a check?” 

“I have to train myself not to interrupt people. I actually babble sometimes. My mind moves faster than my mouth can go,” Bextel said. “So I don’t know, I’m just a quick girl. That’s all I know how to say.”

Other witnesses, including Reps. Brady and McCann, had provided the committee with text message records from conversations with Bextel. 

Bextel had, too, but her records were not as complete. Rep. Martha Lawley, a committee member and Worland Republican, asked Bextel to provide those to the committee. Bextel read some off her phone and agreed to provide a hard copy to lawmakers. 

Twice, Bextel sought to interrupt Legislative Service Office staff presenting exhibits. In her concluding remarks, Bextel, without evidence, accused LSO’s director of “being in on” lawmakers seeking to “derail your budget session.”

“The real scandal that affects Wyoming is this,” Bextel said. “We have Democrats masquerading as Republicans in our Wyoming Legislature.” 

Washut hit the gavel, calling a point of order. 

“Ms. Bextel, I don’t think this is specific to this investigation,” he said. 

‘Egregious use of the Wyoming House floor’

Rep. Karlee Provenza began Thursday’s testimony. The Laramie Democrat ignited the imbroglio that would become Checkgate when she photographed Bextel handing a check to Rep. McCann on the House floor and then shared it with journalists. She was also the lawmaker who formally requested the House investigative hearing. 

Washut asked Provenza to stand and raise her right hand to take an oath. She sat before the committee and stated her name and district. 

Committee member Rep. Marilyn Connolly, R-Buffalo, asked Provenza to describe what she saw on the evening of Feb. 9 on the House floor. Provenza said she was at her desk having a conversation with Reps. Pam Thayer, R-Rawlins and Bob Davis, R-Baggs, when she saw Rep. Webber, “escorting” Bextel onto the House floor with two women whom she didn’t know. Provenza noticed that Bextel held what looked like “printed checks in her hand.” 

According to Provenza, Webber pointed to Webb as Bextel “approached him and handed him a check” in front of McCann and Thayer. Bextel then handed a second check to Brady, Provenza said. 

At that point, Provenza said she stood, pulled out her phone and began taking photos. That’s when Bextel handed out a third check, this time to McCann. “Once the photo was taken, I sat down to see if what I saw was captured in the photo,” Provenza said. 

Heiner asked Provenza if she was familiar with Joint Rule 22-1, a formal process for lawmakers to raise ethics complaints internally. Several Republican lawmakers, including some who acknowledged receiving a check from Bextel, have objected to how and when the public learned of the controversy, saying it should have been handled through this private procedure instead. Open Range Record, a publication co-owned by Bextel, made a similar case.

Provenza said she was familiar with the rule.

“In that procedure, it stipulates how we should make a formal complaint. Is there a reason you didn’t follow that, and you went to the media instead?” Heiner asked. 

“First, there is no requirement for me to use 22-1,” Provenza answered. “What I saw was an egregious use of the Wyoming House floor. 

“I also wanted the truth,” the lawmaker continued, “and going forward to the press meant that journalists would have to corroborate what I saw. It meant that it wasn’t just my word against those who were involved. I felt like I owed it to the public, to the people of Wyoming, to be honest about how some of their legislators are conducting themselves here, and it meant that it wouldn’t be swept under the rug.”

“Did you consult with anyone else before you decided to go to the media with this?” Heiner asked. 

Provenza said that she had shared the photo with the chief clerk of the House as part of a “gut check” on what she had witnessed. She also consulted LSO staff and House lawmakers, including Rep. Storer.

After her testimony, Provenza stood and immediately left the room.

Check recipients speak 

Grasso identified 10 politicians whom he wanted to support with his checks, but only some were asked to testify. That’s because the House limited the committee’s scope to checks received on the House floor, meaning, among other things, Speaker of the House Chip Neiman was not asked to testify about the check he says he received from Bextel in the Speaker’s office. Nor was Gillette Republican Rep. John Bear, who sponsored House Bill 141, who told reporters he received his check elsewhere.

Four lawmakers did receive checks on the House floor on the night in question, according to testimony at the hearing. Webb was the first to address his check during Thursday’s meeting.

Legislative Service Officer Director Matt Obrecht told the panel there were multiple exhibits that Webb had handed over to LSO for the committee to review. Webb submitted 22 pieces of evidence, which are all posted to the Legislative Service Office website and include texts, emails, Facebook messages, photos, campaign contribution reports and call logs. 

An LSO staff member went over those exhibits, the first being texts between Bextel and Webb on Jan. 22. 

“I’ve been volunteer fundraising!” Bextel texted him. “What does this check need to be made out to for your House campaign? Where shall I mail the check? You’ve got a new $1,500 supporter from Teton County.” 

Bextel followed up with other messages about whether or not he would have an opponent and if he needed a check, asking for a response as soon as possible. Eventually, he did respond after he got out of a meeting and told her to make the check out to Joe Webb or Joe Webb for Wyoming, he testified. 

On Jan. 6, a few weeks before that exchange, Bextel texted Webb about a conflict-of-interest email regarding the Wyoming Community Development Authority, which was also submitted as an exhibit. There were also many other emails Bextel sent to him, most of which he said he had never opened until he turned them over to LSO. 

Webb testified before the committee for 25 minutes and answered many questions about the exchange on the floor: if he was expecting a check that day; when he first met Bextel and if he had received more than just this contribution from her; his relationship with Grasso; if he believed there were any strings attached to the check for legislation and more. 

Webb was forthright in his answers and showed the committee his check. 

When lawmakers were finished with their inquiry, he read off a statement. 

He began with a reference to the bribery sections in the Wyoming Constitution. 

“Never, at any time has anyone offered me money, anything of value or anything else to vote or not vote a certain way,” he said. “Should that happen, I would report it to the proper authorities.” 

He said never at any time had Bextel ever “discussed, hinted or even joked about offering money, anything of value or anything else in exchange for me voting or not voting a certain way.” 

“Never at any time, whether in person or by any other means of communication, have I discussed, hinted or even joked about receiving money, anything of value or anything else from Mrs. Bextel or anyone else in exchange for voting or not voting a certain way,” he said. He repeated this statement.

He concluded that the campaign contribution check he received from Bextel was from an account in the name of Donald P. Grasso for Joe Webb for Wyoming in an amount of $1,500 dated Jan. 20, 2026. He said he has never met or communicated with Grasso.

McCann, a Rock Springs Republican and Freedom Caucus member, was the first lawmaker to confirm with a reporter that he had received a check. He told the investigative committee that he hadn’t expected Bextel to hand him a check on the House floor. 

McCann said he was having a conversation with Rep. Mike Schmid on the House floor when Bextel approached him. He didn’t expect to see her. The Rock Springs lawmaker said it took a few seconds before he realized what Bextel had handed him. “Did I expect it to be a check? No,” McCann said. 

McCann said he’s known Bextel for about a year. He recalled a phone call in early January with Bextel in which she asked him if he had an opponent for reelection. Messages included in the investigative committee’s exhibits show that Bextel texted him on Jan. 22 to ask who a check should be made out to for his campaign. “You’ve got a new $1,500 supporter from Teton County,” the text said. McCann said he “assumed” that a check would be mailed to him. 

McCann maintained that Bextel didn’t talk to him about House Bill 141 before the legislative session, although he said the bill was discussed at an event Bextel held the day after McCann received a check from her. McCann attended the event, he said. 

Bextel did text McCann prior to the session, saying she would send him an email regarding the Wyoming Community Development Authority. “Don’t worry about reading that mile long contract, but I just wanna get everybody brushed up on the WCDA and how corrupt they are before the start of the session.”

“I’m gonna bust this housing [scam] wide open,” Bextel continued. “I’ve already got a few wins.” 

McCann also communicated with Bextel after receiving the check. He sent Bextel a text alerting her that a reporter had asked him about the check. “I told her what happened and [that] it was no different from the donor sending them in the mail,” he told Bextel. 

Bextel texted back saying that the reporter had asked her about the check too, and that she had told the reporter that it was “none of [their] business.” 

“What does it matter? You guys have to have them to get elected,” Bextel texted. She later added, “I am not worried about it! Keep up the good work!” 

Before the committee hearing, McCann and Webb were the only lawmakers to have publicly confirmed that Bextel hand-delivered a check to them on the House floor. Thursday evening, the committee heard testimony from two additional representatives who received checks in the chamber. 

During her testimony, Brady told the committee she accepted a check from Bextel on the House floor on day 1 of the 2026 legislative session. Brady confirmed Bextel delivered a $1,500 campaign donation from Grasso. 

Committee member and Rep. Ivan Posey, D-Fort Washakie, asked Brady about her connection to Bextel. 

“She’s someone I met along the way in the realm of conservatives,” Brady said. 

Brady told the committee she could “not recall” when asked several questions, including what Bextel said as she was handing Brady a check, whether she received past contributions from Bextel and how long she’s known Bextel. 

When first approached by a reporter earlier this month, Brady said, “I can’t remember” when asked what Bextel handed to her on the floor. 

Brady is pictured in the now widely circulated photograph taken by Provenza. She is in the center of the photograph, holding a check as Bextel hands another check to McCann. 

Heiner asked Brady if she believed she’d done anything illegal by accepting the check on the House floor. 

Brady said she did not. 

Knapp also told the committee he did not believe his actions were “any violation of any rule or any law.”

“Campaign checks are part of free speech,” he said. 

His testimony was the first time he publicly acknowledged that Bextel handed him a campaign check on the House floor. 

Knapp told the committee he had been sick that day, had missed the afternoon’s affairs and was getting ready to go home when Bextel approached him. 

He said he was surprised to have Bextel meet him on the floor and that he did not immediately realize what she had handed to him. He took the slip of paper and put it in his shirt pocket. 

“As sick as I was, it could have been an elephant,” Knapp said. “But then it wouldn’t have fit in my shirt.”

It wasn’t until he got home that night that Knapp said he realized it was a check. 

Heiner asked Knapp to confirm that, during the session, he lived in the same apartment as House Speaker Neiman, and whether he told Neiman that he was concerned that a rule had been broken. 

Knapp confirmed he lived with Neiman but said he did not tell him about the check, adding that he didn’t think anything of the check until Provenza brought the motion to launch the investigation. 

All witnesses were given two minutes to share a closing statement. In his statement, Knapp repeated his belief that there was no wrongdoing. 

Knapp brought up his brother, a West Point graduate, and a promise he made to his brother to serve in public office so long as his brother served the country. 

“I would not do anything to dishonor that, both for myself and for him,” Knapp said. “This institution is more important than any one of us.” 

View from the floor

Members of the public usually aren’t allowed on the House floor. That raised a question soon after the check-giving controversy came to light: Who allowed Bextel to walk through the lower chamber? 

Taking a seat before the investigative panel about 75 minutes into the hearing, Rep. Webber testified she had been the one to bring Bextel into the House. 

The Republican lawmaker answered many of the committee’s questions with the same answer: “I don’t recall.” 

Committee member Rep. Reuben Tarver asked if someone had contacted Webber the evening of Feb. 9, requesting that she escort someone onto the House floor. “I don’t recall that,” Webber said. 

Tarver asked how she knew that Bextel wanted to come onto the House floor. “I heard her in the hallway, laughing, and I went out there,” Webber answered. Webber said Bextel was with two of her friends — Dawn Marquardt, a reporter with the Open Range Record — and another person whom Webber said she hadn’t met before. 

Webber told the committee Bextel wanted to come onto the House floor “just to say hi to everybody.” The lawmaker said she didn’t know about the checks. 

“Did you point Ms. Bextel in the direction of Webb, Brady and McCann?” Tarver asked. 

“I don’t recall doing that,” Webber said. 

Lawley, an attorney by trade, then referenced security footage, which showed Webber looking at her phone and exiting toward the back to “escort Ms. Bextel onto the floor.” She asked if Bextel had texted her to tell her she was there. “I don’t recall,” Webber answered. 

Heiner noted that “after the events that transpired toward the front of the chamber,” Webber went toward the back of the chamber to where Knapp was. 

“Was there a purpose that you knew about, going to visit with Rep. Knapp?” Heiner asked. 

“No,” Webber said. “My purpose was about the legislative session that was going on.” 

Washut asked Webber to look through her phone to see if she had “any text messages from that night.” Webber took out her phone and scrolled through it. “I do not,” she said after a stretch of quiet. Washut then asked if she recalled deleting any messages that she may have received that night. “I do not,” Webber answered again. 

Lawley then again referenced the video footage and asked why Webber was pointing toward the lawmakers who received a check from Bextel that evening. “Did she have certain people she wanted to talk to?” the Worland lawmaker asked. 

“When Dawn Marquardt was on, I made that gesture because her uncle was sitting in that direction,” Webber said. (Marquardt’s uncle is Rep. Schmid, who was also on the floor that night.) 

“Did you have any idea that when these folks came onto the floor, that their intent was to hand out checks?” Connolly asked Webber. “No,” Webber said. 

Lawley asked a follow-up question: “When you observed that happening, did you interact in any way to say maybe this isn’t a good place to do that, or maybe we could do that later?” 

“I didn’t even observe it,” Webber responded. “The first I knew that anything was handed to anybody was when I saw it two days later in the media.” 

Webber criticized fellow lawmakers in her closing statement: “I’m disappointed in our colleagues for not bringing this up to leadership before it hit the press,” she said. “I voted for this investigative committee, and we all want the truth and the facts. The House of Representatives is here for 20 days. Our number one objective is to pass the state budget.” 

Marquardt, a La Barge resident, also testified next. She is not a lawmaker or an LSO staff member. Asked about her connection to the Wyoming Legislature, Marquardt told the committee her uncle is Rep. Schmid. 

Marquardt writes for the Open Range Record, the media outlet co-owned by Bextel and David Iverson, a conservative podcaster. She is a credentialed press member this session, according to Legislative Service Office records. Marquardt did not disclose that information to the committee, nor did the committee ask about it. 

Marquardt told the committee she had been at the Capitol “all day” and had “been observing what was going on.”

Marquardt said she was with Bextel when Webber escorted her, along with Rita Benson LeBlanc, onto the floor. She said she had gone onto the floor to ask her uncle if he would be attending a GOP dinner in the Capitol’s extension building that evening. 

Asked if she had observed Bextel handing checks to anyone, Marquardt said, “I don’t think I was really paying attention to what other people were doing.” 

Chairman Washut pressed Marquardt about some of her responses that were prefaced with “I think.” Washut said he was concerned she was “not answering forthrightly.” 

Another person on the House floor that night was Rep. Storer, who told the committee she recognized Bextel as one of the people who came onto the floor, escorted by Webber. Bextel was with two other people, whom Storer said she couldn’t name. 

Storer saw Bextel come down the aisle and pass her desk and hand at least one item to McCann. 

Storer said she didn’t hear what Bextel said about the checks, but said she heard McCann say, “Thank you.” 

She was also asked to describe Bextel’s general demeanor on the House floor. 

“I would agree that there were some smiles and people were reasonably happy,” Storer said. 

Storer said that it was “somewhat remarkable” to have Bextel come on the floor and take the action that she did, since it appeared there were other opportunities to provide checks to the representatives. There was a GOP dinner held in the extension 10 minutes later, she said.

“It also raised the question of the purpose and the timing, not just the place,” she said. 

Storer said Bextel hosted an event the next day, Feb. 10, through her organization Eyes on Wyoming, at Little America in Cheyenne. Storer attended that event and said Bextel was advocating for the passage of House Bill 141, along with Teton County rancher Kelly Lockhart. She said there was some mention of some other bills.

“It was clear she was lobbying members of the House and the Senate to pass those bills,” she said.

The committee is scheduled to meet again on Friday at noon.

Editor’s note: Rep. Liz Storer also serves as president and CEO of the George B. Storer Foundation, which is a financial supporter of WyoFile. The foundation has no role in WyoFile’s editorial content.

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