Speaker, former Freedom Caucus leader not on list as House investigative panel sends testimony invitations

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A committee tasked with investigating checks passed out on the House floor did not invite two of the most powerful lawmakers connected to the controversy to testify when it convenes Thursday.

Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, and Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, a former leader of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, have both said they accepted checks from conservative activist Rebecca Bextel — but not on the House floor.

Because of that distinction, and the language of the motion approving the investigation, House Special Investigative Committee Chair Art Washut, R-Casper, did not invite them to testify.

Other lawmakers who were named by a Teton County donor and set to receive checks, or did get the money, were also not asked. 

“The investigation is specific to the allegations in the motion,” Washut said on Tuesday when asked why Neiman and Bear were not invited. “That’s what’s under investigation.” 

In response to Washut’s decision, Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, said she was disappointed with lawmakers who didn’t speak up when the checks were first publicized. Provenza called for the investigation and made the motion that the Wyoming House approved, but it only related to accepting checks on the House floor – not anywhere in the Capitol. 

She later said she didn’t know House Speaker Neiman would be “implicated” when she made her motion.

“It’s really unfortunate that people involved, like the Speaker, did not come forward while we debated this motion so that we didn’t approve a process that would further make the public distrust us,” Provenza said in a statement Tuesday.

Neiman and Bear have said they received checks while in the Capitol during the session. But they didn’t share that information publicly until days after lawmakers voted to launch the investigation.

All told, Washut has invited 15 people to testify under oath at the investigative committee’s first meeting Thursday: 12 representatives and three members of the public, including Bextel and Don Grasso, the Teton County donor who gave her the checks. The other people called to testify include lawmakers who have publicly said they received checks from Bextel, as well as other representatives and a member of the media who are potential witnesses. 

Those called to testify must receive at two days notice before a committee hearing, meaning Tuesday was the last day for Washut to send an invite. 

“The committee is providing you with the opportunity to appear voluntarily and address the matter directly,” Washut wrote in Feb. 19 letters to witnesses. “You certainly can agree that the integrity of this institution demands the willingness of its members and those with whom they associate to meet scrutiny with candor.” 

Washut said people’s testimony could be used against them criminally, since they were not being compelled to appear before the committee, and that they could bring an attorney.

The Wyoming Legislative Service Office confirmed Tuesday that the 15 letters posted online were the only invitations sent so far. Washut said on Tuesday that only people who receive a letter will speak at the hearing on Thursday. 

The lawmakers asked to testify are: Reps. Marlene Brady, R-Green River; Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs; Bob Davis, R-Baggs; Chris Knapp, R-Gillette; Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander; Provenza; Mike Schmid, R-La Barge; Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne; Liz Storer, D-Jackson; Pam Thayer, R-Rawlins; Joe Webb, R-Lyman; and Nina Webber, R-Cody. 

McCann and Webb have both said they accepted checks on the House floor. Brady was seen in the background of a photo taken by Provenza, holding a piece of paper, but did not answer a reporter directly when asked whether she was holding a check..

The controversy

The Wyoming House of Representatives unanimously voted Feb. 12 to create the investigative committee after Bextel was photographed handing out campaign checks to lawmakers on the House floor after adjournment on the first day of the 2026 legislative session. The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office is independently conducting a criminal investigation.

The House and Senate have also passed rules to ban both offering and accepting campaign contributions anywhere during regular and special sessions. Both chambers have banned campaign contributions year-round in the Capitol and in locations under the purview of legislative leadership, like at committee meetings across the state. Gov. Mark Gordon took similar action for the executive branch.

Bextel, who has denied any wrongdoing, hand-delivered checks that Grasso had written, according to the Teton County donor. Grasso told a reporter on Feb. 13 that the checks were intended for 10 Republicans, but he didn’t ask Bextel to pass them out on the floor and expected them to be mailed. 

Grasso intended checks for: Brady, Webb, Knapp, McCann, as well as Neiman, Bear and Reps. Gary Brown, R-Cheyenne; Tony Locke, R-Casper; Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper; and former lawmaker Mark Jennings of Sheridan. All 10 individuals have a tie to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. 

So far, four lawmakers have confirmed they accepted a check in the Capitol from Bextel. They are Neiman, Bear, Webb and McCann.

As well as Neiman and Bear, Washut did not ask Brown, Locke, Ide and Jennings to testify at the first meeting.

The investigation

Rep. Provenza, D-Laramie, made a motion on Feb. 12, approved unanimously by the House, to investigate “whether checks were provided to members of the House of Representatives on the floor of the House.” 

That specific language is why some lawmakers, like Bear and Neiman, were not asked to testify, Washut said. 

Provenza’s motion also directed the committee to investigate whether those actions violated the Wyoming Constitution via bribery or soliciting bribery or “constitutes legislative misconduct” in the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Rules. 

“I made my motion because I thought it would provide an opportunity to find truth,” Provenza said in her statement. “Instead, because of the complications presented by the sheriff’s investigation, Article 3, Section 44 questions of immunity and because of a technicality of where folks received checks, the public may not feel like they are getting the full truth.”

She said the House is going to “have more work to do to restore the public’s trust and faith in us.” 

Neiman gave emotional testimony nearly a week after the checks initially came up on the House floor. He said that he accepted a check from Bextel in his Speaker’s Office on the first day of the session, right off of the House floor, and Bear told a media outlet that he received it on Feb. 10 in a hallway on the third floor. Neither interaction was on the House floor. 

He and Bear both challenged Rep. Mike Yin when the Jackson Democrat brought up the checks in connection to House Bill 141, a measure that Bear sponsored and Bextel supported. Bear said Yin was “making accusations of an individual that cannot be substantiated.” He said the accusation “is offensive to this body.”

In letters, Washut said he requested Brady, Knapp, McCann, Webb and Webber’s testimony because they appeared “to be potentially involved” in the incident. Washut called Bextel and Grasso for similar reasons, and to consider whether their actions violated the Constitution or broke rules. 

Washut said he called Davis, Larsen, Provenza, Schmid, Singh, Storer and Thayer because they appeared to be potential witnesses. Dawn Marquardt, a reporter who writes for the Open Range Record, a media outlet co-founded by Bextel and David Iverson of Cowboy State Politics, was also called as a witness. 

The invitation

In the letters, Washut said testimony is the opportunity to “present your account under oath, answer questions and ensure the record reflects the facts,” as well as to “assist in restoring confidence in the reputation of the Legislature.” 

Washut said the 15 people are not being compelled to testify, although the committee has the power to subpoena witnesses, and may invoke their “right against self incrimination.” 

“If you choose not to attend, this Committee, the Wyoming House of Representatives and the people of Wyoming may reasonably draw their own conclusions,” Washut wrote. 

Witnesses were told to confirm their attendance by 5 p.m. Monday. They were also requested to hand over all relevant documents and communications no later than Tuesday evening. 

The hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday in the Wyoming Supreme Court Chambers on the second floor of the Capitol. Hearings are required to be held publicly and under oath.

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