Former Lawmakers Sound Alarm Over ‘CheckGate’ as Capitol Ethics Crisis Deepens

Jeff Wasserburger served in the Wyoming Legislature for 20 years. When he read about a non-member handing out campaign checks on the House floor last week, he wept.

“It’s an embarrassing situation for all legislators,” said Wasserburger, a Gillette Republican who held top posts in both chambers. He called the act “brazen.”

The incident, dubbed “CheckGate” by Capitol regulars, has spiraled into a full-blown ethics crisis. On the evening of Feb. 9, Teton County Republican Party committeewoman Rebecca Bextel walked onto the House floor after adjournment and distributed checks to several lawmakers. She has said publicly she was delivering lawful campaign contributions on behalf of a Teton County donor, and did so in person because she was already in Cheyenne.

The fallout has been swift and severe. The House has convened a special investigative committee. The Senate unanimously condemned the act and is drafting new rules to ban campaign contributions during session. The Laramie County Sheriff’s Department has opened an external investigation into possible bribery.

For former lawmakers, the shock runs deep.

“It’s unprecedented. I never saw anything like this,” said Ron Micheli, a Uinta County Republican who served 16 years beginning in the late 1970s. “When it comes to ethics violations, I don’t recall anything of this magnitude.”

Micheli rejected attempts to frame the incident as merely a matter of “bad optics.” He noted that no one has filed for office—the filing deadline isn’t until May. “So what’s the money for?” he asked.

Anthony Ross, who served 22 years in both chambers, said ethics training always emphasized two absolutes: no trading votes, and no accepting benefits for votes. “Whether or not any of this constitutes malfeasance, the appearance is absolutely awful,” Ross said.

The checks reportedly came from Don Grasso, a Teton County donor, who told Cowboy State Daily his assistant sent them to Bextel believing she would mail them to Freedom Caucus-aligned candidates. Instead, Bextel handed them out personally—two days before several recipients voted to introduce a bill she champions.

Rep. Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs, one of the recipients, acknowledged the optics are bad but insisted, “I did nothing wrong—I did not accept any bribe or anything like that.”

Former House Speaker Eli Bebout, a Riverton Republican with nearly 30 years in state government, said the privilege of the floor is “very special” and should be guarded. He praised leadership’s swift response but warned the episode reflects the growing influence of money in politics.

“It’s not a partisan issue,” Bebout said. “The fact that both bodies stepped up so quickly speaks well of the institution.”

Micheli said new rules can help, but the fundamental fix is cultural. “Ultimately, it comes down to a basic belief in ethics and principles,” he said. “The Constitution is very clear about bribery or the appearance thereof.”

Ross noted the investigative committee is unprecedented in his tenure. “You may be in the legislature for a few years, but the institution lives on,” he said. “All of those things we celebrate about Wyoming—you could tarnish all of it by making it look like the Legislature was for sale.”