Wyoming Senate Majority Floor Leader Blasts House Check Dispersal Incident

The Majority Floor Leader of the Wyoming Senate is not happy about a recent incident in which checks which were said to be campaign contributions were handed out to members of the Wyoming House of Representatives on the floor of the House.

The House had adjourned for the day on February 10 when the incident happened. But Sen. Tara Nethercott [ R-Laramie County] posted the following on Facebook:

Incident Has Prompted A Criminal Investigation

The incident prompted the Laramie County Sheriff's Office over the weekend to announce it is conducting a criminal investigation to determine whether bribery may have been committed. The Wyoming House last week also voted to investigate the matter, but the sheriff's office specified that their criminal probe is separate from the House investigation.

All 31 members of the Senate have condemned the incident.

The checks were handed out by Rebecca Bextel, a Teton County GOP committeewoman.

Bextel said on her Facebook page that she was delivering lawful campaign checks from Teton County donors that had been written two weeks before the incident. She pointed out that she didn't do it while the House was in session and said  "There’s nothing wrong with delivering lawful campaign checks from Teton County donors when I am in Cheyenne."