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 the following: House Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Hulett; Bear; and fellow 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 Monday, 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 smoking gun,” 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.

Other lawmakers named by Grasso were less forthcoming when approached by a reporter Monday.

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. 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, Webb and Brown.