A conservative political group with deep pockets and a mysterious roster of backers has kicked off one of Wyoming’s strangest transparency fights in years, accusing the state of “censoring” constituent emails and threatening legal action unless the Legislature fixes it, Casper Star Tribune reports.
The group is called Honor Wyoming, and ever since it muscled into state politics in 2024 with social-media ads and billboards, it’s offered visitors to its website a one-click way to email every lawmaker at once. The result: thousands of identical messages hitting state servers, many of which landed — predictably — in junk or quarantine folders.
Honor Wyoming called it censorship. Lawmakers and staff called it Microsoft Outlook doing what Microsoft Outlook does.
And now the whole thing has spiraled into a fight over transparency, dark money, and who actually runs the show in Cheyenne.
Back in January, Honor Wyoming sent a legal threat accusing the Legislature of blocking political speech after many of its bulk-sent messages ended up filtered by spam software. By March, the group was publicly claiming lawmakers were being “censored,” and insisted the state was violating constituents’ First Amendment rights simply because emails didn’t land directly in inboxes.
The accusation gained enough steam that lawmakers formed a special interim subcommittee to figure out what was going on — and, more importantly, whether the state was actually interfering with communication.
They weren’t.
According to the Legislative Service Office (LSO), every email was delivered somewhere lawmakers could access: inbox, junk, or the quarantine folder.
“We’ve spent more time on this than anything else this off-season,” deputy administrator Anthony Sara told lawmakers. “Nobody is blocking anything. Microsoft determines spam scores — not us.”
Even after the tech explanation, tensions exploded at last week’s Management Council meeting.
Sen. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo, said bluntly that Honor Wyoming’s accusations rang hollow coming from an organization unwilling to reveal its own leadership. Because the group is a nonprofit, it does not have to disclose donors or board members — the very definition of dark money.
“They’re asking for transparency,” Crago said, “while refusing to tell us who their board of directors is or who’s paying the bills. That’s ironic.”
Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, pressed the group’s attorney, longtime GOP figure Drake Hill, for answers.
“Who’s in charge of this outfit?” Gierau asked.
Hill’s reply? He wasn’t sure.
“I honestly don’t know who the board members are,” Hill said. “Their mission is to bring awareness to issues.”
That answer did not go over well.
Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, who strongly supports Honor Wyoming’s complaint, proposed requiring legislative staff to publish a partial list of quarantined email addresses daily so constituents could verify that their message reached lawmakers.
Bear said too many communications were buried where legislators may not ever look.
“People fought and died for the First Amendment,” Bear told colleagues. “I want to hear from everybody.”
Others accused him of inflating a problem that doesn’t exist.
Senate President Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, corrected Bear repeatedly:
“No emails have been blocked. So you’re being disingenuous when you use that term.”
Ultimately, the council split 5–5, killing the bill — though Bear or another lawmaker will likely file it again during the 2026 session.
Beyond the political drama, LSO staff made one thing clear: no one is censoring anything. The issue comes down to how Microsoft rates mass emails sent from a single source.
Sara explained that spam confidence scores are entirely automated and cannot be overridden by the state. He also noted LSO has spent extensive time training legislators on checking junk and quarantine folders.
Staff also updated the Legislature’s website with instructions for constituents worried their messages are disappearing — because, again, they aren’t.
Several lawmakers argued the whole conflict has become a proxy battle over outside political groups trying to steer Wyoming policy.
Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, said the real issue isn’t email — it’s “well-funded organizations” using fear and misinformation to divide the state.
“This must come to an end,” Nethercott said.
Others, including Speaker Chip Neiman and Rep. Bear, insisted the discussion is about protecting citizen access, not about a single group.
But Biteman wasn’t buying it.
“If this was an issue important to Wyoming residents,” he said, “this room would be full. Nobody showed up except the group that caused this whole situation.”
The Legislature’s special subcommittee has ended its work, the proposed bill failed, and Honor Wyoming still isn’t revealing who runs it.
Lawmakers remain divided, LSO staff continues explaining spam filters, and the 2026 budget session — where this could all resurface — begins Feb. 9.
For now, leadership is urging residents to keep contacting lawmakers directly through official channels rather than relying on bulk-email tools.
As for Honor Wyoming’s claims? The political fight is still hot, the tech explanation is still simple, and the mystery of who exactly is behind the organization remains unsolved.
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