Bouchard wants WyoFile dragged into Rasner defamation lawsuit

The original story by Clair McFarland for Cowboy State Daily.

Former state Sen. Anthony Bouchard is already in hot water over a defamation lawsuit brought by Casper businessman Reid Rasner — and now he’s trying to pull WyoFile into the fight, too.

Rasner sued Bouchard in July, accusing him of torching his reputation with Facebook comments claiming Rasner had a “student sexual abuse record” at Casper College. Rasner says those claims are flat-out false and damaging.

But in an amended complaint, Rasner also points to a second issue: Bouchard allegedly “kept the attacks going” by sharing a link to a WyoFile story — which was a republication of a piece from South Dakota Searchlight that questioned Rasner’s public claims of massive wealth, including talk earlier this year of a $47.45 billion bid to buy TikTok.

On Dec. 12, Bouchard responded by filing a third-party complaint against WyoFile, essentially saying: if Rasner is going to treat the WyoFile link as part of the defamation case, then WyoFile should have to defend itself alongside him — and potentially cover him.

The Searchlight article, republished by WyoFile, didn’t accuse Rasner of a crime — it questioned his billionaire branding.

The piece said Rasner’s background doesn’t offer “definitive proof” that he’s a billionaire and cited campaign disclosures describing him as a self-employed financial adviser with real estate holdings, eBay income, and more than $1 million in debt tied to a loan from a family trust. It also quoted state Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, calling the TikTok bid a “publicity stunt.”

Rasner’s lawsuit labels the story a “dubious” attempt to discredit him and argues that Bouchard boosted it to push “false narratives.”

Notably, Rasner didn’t sue WyoFile or South Dakota Searchlight over the article — he sued Bouchard.

Bouchard’s attorney, Seth “Turtle” Johnson of Saratoga’s Slow and Steady Law Office, framed Rasner’s claim as a free-speech problem.

He argued that if simply sharing a third-party article — without adding commentary — can support defamation and related claims, then “the First Amendment is in dire straits in Wyoming.”

Still, the filing doesn’t just complain about the principle. It asks the court to let Bouchard seek indemnification from WyoFile — meaning if he’s held liable for anything tied to the WyoFile link, he wants WyoFile on the hook.

WyoFile executive editor Matthew Copeland said the outlet stands by its reporting and called Bouchard’s legal move a nonstarter.

“WyoFile hasn’t defamed anyone,” Copeland wrote in an email.

And while the court will decide whether Bouchard defamed Rasner, Copeland added, the idea that WyoFile should be responsible for Bouchard’s speech is “absurd” and “an affront to the idea of personal responsibility.”

Bouchard’s filing also referenced a Rod Miller WyoFile column that joked the legal drama had boosted “popcorn futures.” But that piece was opinion, not straight news.

South Dakota Searchlight declined to comment.

Rasner’s team fired back in a press release, saying Bouchard is now “pointing fingers” to dodge accountability.

Rasner was quoted saying the case is simple: Bouchard wrote the posts, Bouchard published the accusations, and now Bouchard is trying to shift blame. Rasner said his legal team plans to move into discovery with subpoenas and sworn testimony to dig into how the claims were made, repeated, and “weaponized.”

Bouchard didn’t respond to a request for comment.

On the specific accusation about a “sexual abuse record,” Casper College has denied ever receiving a report of sexual misconduct involving Rasner and pointed to its zero-tolerance policy in an Oct. 31 filing. Meanwhile, a Bouchard friend, Austin Jennings, told the court he’d heard allegations about Rasner from years earlier and passed that on to Bouchard.

A judge has already ruled the lawsuit is solid enough to move into discovery, meaning the next phase is less about public statements and more about what comes out under oath.