6:59 p.m. — Bextel’s texts with donor’s assistant More than three hours into the hearing, Legislative Service Office staff went over texts provided to the Wyoming House Investigative Committee between Rebecca Bextel and others. The presentation preceded Bextel’s testimony to the committe e.  The first texts showed exchanges between Bextel and Amy Schneider. Schneider appears to be Don Grasso’s assistant, who was tasked with organizing the checks to be given out. Grasso was the donor whose bank account was attached to the checks set for 10 Republicans with ties to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.  There was back-and-forth about sending out the checks, according to the exhibit.  Bextel offered to send out the checks herself in the mail after hearing that Schneider had been dealing with health issues and offered to send a list of names and a FedEx label for Bextel to send them out.  On Jan. 21, Schneider said she has doctor appointments and a procedure that would knock her out. She told Bextel to send the list and where to send it, but then asked if she should just send them to Bextel.  Rebecca Bextel during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) That day, Bextel wished her good luck on her procedure and told Schneider to send the checks to her and she would mail them to the individual candidates. On Jan. 22, Bextel asked how the procedure went and Schneider responded. She said she didn’t see the list of candidates and asked if she missed it.  “I didn’t send the list because I didn’t want to give you more work if you are not well,” Bextel responded. She then said she would get it to Schneider that morning. The texts that followed concerned personal matters and not the checks.  Also included in the exhibits for the committee was the email Bextel sent to Schneider. There was no visible date.  The email included a list of the 10 Republicans to make the checks out to: Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, Reps. Marlene Brady, R-Green River; John Bear, R-Gillette; Gary Brown, R-Cheyenne; Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette; Tony Locke, R-Casper; Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs; Joe Webb, R-Lyman; Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper, and former lawmaker Mark Jennings of Sheridan.   The email concluded: “Thank you very much! Do you want me to send you a FEdEx label? What is easiest for you?”  After those texts were reviewed, LSO staff went through text messages between Bextel and Reps. Bear, Brady, Brown, Knapp, Locke, McCann and Webb. — Jasmine Hall 6:57 p.m. — ‘It just doesn’t look right’: Bextel interview played at hearing The committee next played a video from the Open Range Record, a media outlet Bextel co-owns with conservative podcaster David Iverson. In the video, Iverson interviews Bextel about the exchange of checks on the House floor.  “I’m sorry this isn’t going to be sexy or glamorous,” Bextel begins. Bextel goes on to explain the events that led to her handing a check to McCann on the House floor.  At the end of the day Feb. 9, Bextel recounted, after “everyone had kind of cleared out,” she approached McCann and thanked him “for doing such a great job,” then handed him the check.  “That was it. I just gave the check,” she said, later adding that she “just handed him a check not thinking anything of it.”  Iverson and Bextel then debated the optics of exchanging checks on the House floor.  “It just doesn’t look right,” Iverson said.  Bextel asked what didn’t look right.  “That you’re on the legislative floor,” Iverson responded.  Bextel said she believes that concern about the checks came down to the issue of housing mitigation fees and Wyoming Freedom Caucus candidates receiving money. — Maya Shimizu Harris 6:36 p.m. — Rep. Knapp sixth lawmaker to acknowledge receiving a check. For the first time since the “Checkgate” controversy began unraveling in the first week of the 2026 legislative session, Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, said Rebecca Bextel handed him a campaign check on the House floor.  Knapp told the committee he had been sick that day, and had missed the afternoon’s affairs and was getting ready to go home when Bextel approached him.  He said he was surprised to have Bextel meet him on the floor and that he did not immediately realize what she had handed to him. He took the slip of paper and put it in his shirt pocket.  Reps. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, left, and Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne, during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) “As sick as I was, it could have been an elephant,” Knapp said. “But then it wouldn’t have fit in my shirt.” It wasn’t until he got home that night that Knapp said he realized it was a check.  Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River, asked Knapp to confirm that, during the session, he lived in the same apartment as Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, and whether he told Neiman that he was concerned that a rule had been broken.  Knapp confirmed he lived with Neiman but said he did not tell him about the check, adding that he didn’t think anything of the check until Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, brought a motion to launch an investigation into the checks.  “I did not believe there was any violation of any rule or any law,” Knapp said.  “Campaign checks are part of free speech,” he said.  All witnesses were given the opportunity to share a closing statement of no more than two minutes. In his statement, Knapp repeated his belief that there was no wrongdoing.  Knapp brought up his brother, a West Point graduate, and a promise he made to his brother to serve in public office so long as his brother served the country.  “I would not do anything to dishonor that, both for myself and for him,” Knapp said. “This institution is more important than any one of us.”  Knapp also pointed to Gov. Mark Gordon and a political action committee the governor used to donate to legislative candidates in 2024.  Freedom of speech protects both the governor’s donations and the check he received from Don Grasso. — Maggie Mullen 6:33 p.m. — McCann says he didn’t expect to receive a check on the House floor Rep. Darin McCann, who was pictured in Rep. Karlee Provenza’s now well-circulated photo receiving a check from Rebecca Bextel, told the investigative committee that he hadn’t expected Bextel to hand him a check on the House floor. McCann, a Rock Springs Republican and Wyoming Freedom Caucus member, was the first lawmaker to confirm with a reporter that he had received a check.  McCann said he was having a conversation with Rep. Mike Schmid on the House floor when Bextel approached him. He didn’t expect to see her. The Rock Springs lawmaker realized “a few seconds after” Bextel handed him the check what it was. “Did I expect it to be a check? No,” McCann said.  McCann said he’s known Bextel for about a year. He recalled a phone call in early January with Bextel in which she asked him if he had an opponent for reelection. Messages included in the investigative committee’s exhibits show that Bextel texted him on Jan. 22 to ask who a check should be made out to for his campaign. “You’ve got a new $1,500 supporter from Teton County,” the text said. McCann said he “assumed” that a check would be mailed to him.  Rep. Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs, during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) McCann maintained that Bextel didn’t talk to him about House Bill 141, a bill banning affordable housing fees that Bextel supports, before the legislative session, although he said the bill was discussed at an event Bextel held the day after McCann received a check from her. McCann attended the event, he said.  Bextel did text McCann prior to the session saying she would send him an email regarding the Wyoming Community Development Authority. “Don’t worry about reading that mile long contract, but I just wanna get everybody brushed up on the WCDA and how corrupt they are before the start of the session.” “I’m gonna bust this housing [scam] wide open,” Bextel continued. “I’ve already got a few wins.”  McCann also sent Bextel a text alerting her that a reporter had asked him about the check. “I told her what happened and [that] it was no different from the donor sending them in the mail,” he told Bextel.  Bextel texted back saying that the reporter had asked her about the check too, and that she had told the reporter that it was “none of [their] business.”  “What does it matter? You guys have to have them to get elected,” Bextel texted. She later added, “I am not worried about it! Keep up the good work!” — Maya Shimizu Harris 6:12 p.m. — Fifth lawmaker acknowledges they accepted a check from Bextel Rep. Marlene Brady told the committee she accepted a check from Rebecca Bextel on the House floor on day one of the 2026 legislative session — making her the fifth Republican lawmaker to acknowledge her involvement in the controversy.  Brady also told the committee the check was a campaign donation from Don Grasso in the amount of $1,500.  Rep. Marlene Brady, R-Green River, testifies during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) Rep. Ivan Posey, D-Fort Washakie, asked Brady about her connection to Bextel.  “She’s someone I met along the way in the realm of conservatives,” Brady said.  Brady told the committee she could “not recall” when asked several questions, including what Bextel said as she was handing Brady a check, whether she received past contributions from Bextel and how long she’s known Bextel.  When first approached by a reporter earlier this month, Brady said, “I can’t remember” when asked what Bextel handed to her on the floor.  Brady is pictured in the now widely circulated photograph taken by Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie. She is in the center of the photograph, holding a check as Bextel hands another check to Rep. Darin McCann.  Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River, asked Brady if she believed she’d done anything illegal by accepting the check on the House floor.  Brady said she did not. — Maggie Mullen 6:05 p.m. — Webb is first lawmaker to speak about receiving a check After a five-minute break, where attendees grabbed water and chatted about the testimony so far, Rep. Joe Webb, R-Lyman, came forward.  Webb was one of the members of the House who received a check from conservative activist Rebecca Bextel on the House floor – and the first to address his check during Thursday’s House Investigative Committee meeting. Legislative Service Officer Director Matt Obrecht advised Webb as a witness after he gave his oath. He said there were multiple exhibits that Webb had handed over to LSO for the committee to review. Webb submitted 22 pieces of evidence to the committee, which are all posted to the Legislative Service Office website and include texts, emails, Facebook messages, photos, campaign contribution reports and call logs.  Rep. Joe Webb, R-Lyman, shows a check he received from Rebecca Bextel during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) An LSO staff member went over those exhibits, the first being texts between Bextel and Webb on Jan. 22.  “I’ve been volunteer fundraising!” Bextel texted him. “What does this check need to be made out to for your House campaign? Where shall I mail the check? You’ve got a new $1,500 supporter from Teton County.”  Bextel followed up with other messages about whether or not he would have an opponent and if he needed a check, asking for a response as soon as possible. Eventually, he did respond after he got out of a meeting and told her to make the check out to Joe Webb or Joe Webb for Wyoming, he testified.  There were no more texts between the pair of them after she “liked” his response. He didn’t provide an address, but he said he had received mailed donations from her before.  Previously, she did text him on Jan. 6 about a conflict of interest email regarding the Wyoming Community Development Authority, which was also submitted as an exhibit. There were also many other emails Bextel sent to him, most of which he said he had never opened until he turned them over to LSO.  Webb was before the committee for 25 minutes and answered many questions about the exchange on the floor, like if he knew the guests of Bextel; if he was expecting a check on Feb. 9 on the floor; when he first met Bextel and if he had received more than just this contribution from her; his relationship with Teton County donor Don Grasso; if he believed there were any strings attached to the check for legislation and more.  Rep. Joe Webb, R-Lyman, shows a check he received from Rebecca Bextel during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) Webb was forthright in his answers and also showed the committee his check.  When lawmakers were finished with their inquiry, he read off a statement.  He began with a reference to the bribery sections in the Wyoming Constitution.  “Never, at any time has anyone offered me money, anything of value or anything else to vote or not vote a certain way,” he said. “Should that happen, I would report it to the proper authorities.”  He said never, at any time had Bextel ever “discussed, hinted or even joked about offering money, anything of value or anything else in exchange for me voting or not voting a certain way.”  “Never at any time, whether in person or by any other means of communication, have I discussed, hinted or even joked about receiving money, anything of value or anything else from Mrs. Bextel or anyone else in exchange for voting or not voting a certain way,” he said. He repeated this statement. He concluded that the campaign contribution check he received from Bextel was from an account in the name of Donald P. Grasso for Joe Webb for Wyoming in an amount of $1,500 dated Jan. 20, 2026. He said he has never met or communicated with Grasso. — Jasmine Hall 5:28 p.m. — Lawmaker who accompanied Bextel on the House floor testifies Rep. Nina Webber, whom Rep. Karlee Provenza previously said had “escorted” Bextel onto the floor the evening of Feb. 9, took a seat before the committee at about 4:15 p.m. She answered many of the committee’s questions with the same answer: “I don’t recall.”  Committee member and Rep. Reuben Tarver asked if someone had contacted Webber the evening of Feb. 9, requesting that she escort them onto the House floor. “I don’t recall that,” Webber said.  Tarver asked how she knew that Bextel wanted to come onto the House floor. “I heard her in the hallway, laughing, and I went out there,” Webber answered. Webber said Bextel was with two of her friends — Dawn Marquardt, a reporter with the Open Range Record, a publication that Bextel co-owns — and another whom Webber said she hadn’t met before.  From right, Rebecca Bextel, Rep. Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs, Rep. Mike Schmid, R-La Barge, Rep. Joe Webb, R-Lyman, and Rep. Nina Webber, R-Cody, during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) Webber said Bextel wanted to come onto the House floor “just to say hi to everybody.” The lawmaker said she didn’t know about the checks.  “Did you point Ms. Bextel in the direction of Webb, Brady and McCann?” Tarver asked.  “I don’t recall doing that,” Webber said.  Rep. Martha Lawley, who serves on the investigative committee, then referenced security footage, which showed Webber looking at her phone and exiting toward the back to “escort Ms. Bextel onto the floor.” She asked if Bextel had texted her to tell her she was there. “I don’t recall,” Webber answered.  Committee member and Rep. Scott Heiner noted that “after the events that transpired toward the front of the chamber,” Webber went toward the back of the chamber to where Rep. Chris Knapp, R-Gillette, was. Knapp was named as one of the lawmakers that Teton County donor Don Grasso intended to give a check to.  “Was there a purpose that you knew about, going to visit with Rep. Knapp?” Heiner asked.  “No,” Webber said. “My purpose was about the legislative session that was going on.”  Rep. Art Washut, who is leading the committee and is a retired police officer, asked Webber to look through her phone to see if she had “any text messages from that night.” Webber took out phone and scrolled through it. “I do not,” she said after a stretch of quiet. Washut then asked if she recalled deleting any messages that she may have received that night. “I do not,” Webber answered again.  Lawley then again referenced the video footage and asked why Webber was pointing toward the lawmakers who received a check from Bextel that evening. “Did she have certain people she wanted to talk to?” the Worland lawmaker and attorney asked.  Rep. Nina Webber, R-Cody, during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) “When Dawn Marquardt was on, I made that gesture, because her uncle was sitting in that direction,” Webber said. (Marquardt’s uncle is Rep. Mike Schmid, R-La Barge, who had testified earlier.)  “Did you have any idea that when these folks came onto the floor, that their intent was to hand out checks?” Connolly asked Webber. “No,” Webber said.  Lawley asked a follow-up question: “When you observed that happening, did you interact in any way to say maybe this isn’t a good place to do that, or maybe we could do that later?”  “I didn’t even observe it,” Webber responded. “The first I knew that anything was handed to anybody was when I saw it two days later in the media.”  Webber criticized her colleagues in her closing statement: “I’m disappointed in our colleagues for not bringing this up to leadership before it hit the press,” she said. “I voted for this investigative committee, and we all want the truth and the facts. The House of Representatives is here for 20 days. Our number one objective is to pass the state budget.”  Webber remained in the room after her testimony. — Maya Shimizu Harris 5:12 p.m. — House adjourns after struggling to maintain quorum amid investigative hearing Because the House was having difficulty maintaining a quorum — half of its 62 members — it adjourned at 3:59 p.m. after considering and voting on five bills in the afternoon session that began at 2 p.m. Many members were either called to another meeting — the investigation — or were intent on listening to it. — Angus M. Thuermer Jr. The 68th Wyoming Legislature is in session. The issues you care about are up for debate in the Capitol. Keep tabs on Wyoming politics and policy with our free morning newsletter. Sign up 5:08 p.m. — Lawmaker’s niece, who writes for Bextel’s website, testifies Dawn Marquardt, a La Barge resident, testified next. She is not a lawmaker or an LSO staff member.  Asked about her connection to the Wyoming Legislature, Marquardt told the committee she is the niece of Rep. Mike Schmid, R-La Barge.  Marquardt writes for the Open Range Record, a media outlet co-owned by Rebecca Bextel and David Iverson, a conservative podcaster. She is a credentialed press member this session, according to Legislative Service Office records. Marquardt did not disclose that information to the committee, nor did the committee ask about it.  Marquardt told the committee she had been at the Capitol “all day” and had “been observing what was going on.” Marquardt said she was with Bextel when Rep. Nina Webber escorted her, along with Rita Benson LeBlanc, onto the floor. She said she had gone onto the floor to ask her uncle if he would be attending a GOP dinner in the Capitol’s extension building that evening.  Chairman Art Washut, R-Casper, listens to Dawn Marquardt’s testimony during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) Asked if she had observed Bextel handing checks to anyone, Marquardt said, “I don’t think I was really paying attention to what other people were doing.”  Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper, pressed Marquardt about some of her responses that were prefaced with “I think.” Washut said he was concerned she was “not answering forthrightly.” — Maggie Mullen 4:49 p.m. — Storer said Bextel visited the House floor twice on session’s opening day After the video footage was presented by the Legislative Service Office, Rep. Pam Thayer, R-Rawlins, was invited to come forward as a witness. She took her oath. Legislative Service Office Director Matt Obrecht advised her on her rights as a witness.  Rep. Justin Fornstrom, R-Pine Bluffs, started the line of questioning. He asked where she was on the first night of the session, what she saw on the floor and if she heard any conversations around her. She said she was on the floor. She didn’t have any comment about what she saw or if she heard any conversations. Washut said she could give a statement lasting no more than two minutes. Thayer said she had nothing to add at this time. She was dismissed. Rep. Pam Thayer, R-Rawlins, during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) Next, Liz Storer, D-Jackson, came up and took her oath. Again, Obrecht advised her on how the process would work as a witness.  Rep. Reuben Tarver, R-Gillette, took over asking questions. He asked Storer similar questions to Thayer about whether she was on the House floor, if she noticed whether anyone came on the floor and if she could identify those people.  Storer said she recognized Rebecca Bextel as one of the people who came onto the floor, escorted by Rep. Nina Webber. It was the second time Storer had seen her on the floor. Bextel was with two other people, whom Storer said she couldn’t name.  Storer saw Bextel come down the aisle and pass her desk and hand at least one item to Rep. Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs. McCann previously told a reporter that he accepted a check from Bextel, which came from a Teton County donor who he wouldn’t identify. Later, Don Grasso came forward as the donor.  Tarver asked Storer if she had since learned what was handed out.  “I have,” Storer said. Storer said she didn’t hear what Bextel said about the checks, but said she heard McCann say “thank you.”  She was also asked to describe Bextel’s general demeanor on the House floor.  “I would agree that there were some smiles and people were reasonably happy,” Storer said.  After Tarver finished his questions, Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland, asked Storer to talk about seeing Bextel on the floor of the House earlier in the day. Chair Art Washut, R-Casper, briefly interrupted and told Storer only to answer if it was germane to the investigation. Storer said it was during the noon recess when she saw Bextel putting orchids on around eight people’s desks.  “It was noticeable because I didn’t see an escort with her at the time,” Storer said. However, she acknowledged that the escort might have been around at the time.  Rep. Liz Storer, D-Jackson, during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) Fornstrom then asked Storer if she had a conversation with Provenza that night, after Bextel left the floor. Storer said Provenza showed her a photo she had taken depicting what she believed to be the exchange of checks. Since Storer couldn’t see what the items were from her position on the House floor, she said she originally thought they were thank-you notes “or something.”  “So, I was surprised at that,” she said.  House Majority Floor Leader Scott Heiner, R-Green River, followed with a line of questioning about Joint Rule 22-1. He asked whether Storer was familiar with it, which she was, and whether Provenza and her discussed the rule that night about how to bring the issue to the attention of leadership.  “Not that I recall,” Storer said.  The lawmakers were done with questions and Washut invited Storer to make a statement up to two minutes long with any information germane to the investigation.  Storer said that it was “somewhat remarkable” to have Bextel come on the floor and take the action that she did, since it appeared there were other opportunities to provide checks to the representatives. There was a GOP dinner held in the extension 10 minutes later, she said. “It also raised the question of the purpose and the timing, not just the place,” she said.  Storer said Bextel also hosted an event the next day, Feb. 10, through her organization Eyes on Wyoming, at Little America in Cheyenne. Storer attended that event and said Bextel was advocating for the passage of House Bill 141, a bill that would strip Jackson and Teton County of its ability to implement mitigation fees for affordable and workforce housing, along with Teton County rancher Kelly Lockhart. She said there was some mention of some other bills. “It was clear she was lobbying members of the House and the Senate to pass those bills,” she said. — Jasmine Hall Editor’s note: Rep. Liz Storer also serves as president and CEO of the George B. Storer Foundation, which is a financial supporter of WyoFile. The foundation has no role in WyoFile’s editorial content. 4:31 p.m. — Some lawmakers have few details to share The next two witnesses, Reps. Bob Davis, R-Baggs, and Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, provided few new details.  Davis only answered a couple of short questions before telling the committee he had “nothing to add at this time.”  Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) Larsen said he was on the floor when Bextel and two other women walked onto the floor with Rep. Nina Webber, R-Cody. Larsen told the committee he recognized Bextel from her prior lobbying, but he did not know the two other women. He did not see Bextel hand out anything or have any conversations with lawmakers, Larsen said.  Provenza pulled Larsen aside and showed him the photograph, he said.  “She thought it was important,” Larsen said, before Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper, asked him if he provided any advice or counsel to Provenza.  “I did not,” Larsen said.  Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne, said he believed he was on the House floor at about 5:20 p.m. on Feb. 9, though he said he didn’t recall seeing anyone come onto the floor, and he said he didn’t “hear any conversation about anything, about any particular bills or anything like that.” — Maggie Mullen and Maya Shimizu Harris 4:22 p.m. — Lawmaker who shared check exchange photo with reporters gives testimony Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, began Thursday’s testimony. Washut asked Provenza, who shared a photo of the check exchange with reporters, to stand and raise her right hand to give an oath. She sat before the committee and stated her name and district.  Rep. Marilyn Connolly, R-Buffalo, asked Provenza to describe what she saw on the evening of Feb. 9 on the House floor. That evening, Provenza began, she was at her desk having a conversation with Reps. Pam Thayer, R-Rawlins and Bob Davis, R-Baggs. She saw Rep. Nina Webber, R-Cody, “escorting” Bextel onto the House floor with two women who she didn’t know. Provenza noticed that Bextel held what looked like “printed checks in her hand.”  According to Provenza, Webber pointed to Rep. Joe Webb, R-Lyman, as Bextel “approached him and handed him a check” in front of Rep. Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs, and Thayer’s desk. Bextel then handed a second check to Rep. Marlene Brady, R-Green River, Provenza said.  At that point, Provenza said she stood, pulled out her phone, and began taking photos. That’s when Bextel handed a third check to McCann. “Once the photo was taken, I sat down to see if what I saw was captured in the photo,” Provenza said.  Provenza said she couldn’t hear all of what the check recipients said during their interaction with Bextel.  Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River, asked Provenza if she was familiar with Joint Rule 22-1, a formal process for lawmakers to raise ethics complaints internally. Several Republican lawmakers, including some who admitted to receiving a check from Bextel, have objected to how and when the public learned of the controversy, saying it should have been handled through this internal procedure instead.  “Yes, I am,” Provenza said.  “In that procedure, it stipulates how we should make a formal complaint. Is there a reason you didn’t follow that and you went to the media instead?” Heiner asked.  “First, there is no requirement for me to use 22-1,” Provenza responded. “What I saw was an egregious use of the Wyoming House floor.  “I also wanted the truth,” the lawmaker continued, “and going forward to the press meant that journalists would have to corroborate what I saw. It meant that it wasn’t just my word against those who were involved. I felt like I owed it to the public, to the people of Wyoming, to be honest about how some of their legislators are conducting themselves here, and it meant that it wouldn’t be swept under the rug. People would have to make up their own minds about the information that came forward. So I went public, because I didn’t trust that a private process behind the scenes was going to result in the complete truth.”   “Did you consult with anyone else before you decided to go to the media with this?” Heiner asked.  Provenza said that she had shared the photo with the chief clerk of the House and asked for a “gut check,” she said. She also consulted LSO staff and House lawmakers, including Rep. Liz Storer, D-Jackson.  After her testimony, Provenza stood and immediately left the room. — Maya Shimizu Harris 4:00 p.m. — Photograph, security footage evidence shows exchanges Following Laramie Democratic Rep. Karlee Provenza’s testimony, the Legislative Service Office walked the committee through several exhibits, including a photograph at the center of the controversy.  The now widely-circulated photograph taken by Provenza shows Rebecca Bextel handing Rep. Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs, a check. Rep. Marlene Brady, R-Green River, stands in the background, holding a check in her hands.  Tamara Rivale, with the Legislative Service Office, described the photograph as one of “the most clear images” provided to the committee of what took place on the floor. Rivale said the woman in the photograph standing next to Bextel has been identified as Rita Benson LeBlanc. On the right side of the photo, a sliver of red is Cody Republican Rep. Nina Webber, Rivale said.  Members of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) Provenza took four “live” photographs that, when stitched together, create a short video wherein Brady can be heard saying, “how sweet.” The committee was also presented with security footage from the Wyoming Highway Patrol, which indicated that it was Webber who escorted Bextel onto the House floor.  Separate security footage presented to the committee showed four individuals gathered in the northwest corner of the House after the chamber had adjourned on the first day. Though more difficult to make out, Rivale said, the individuals have been identified as Bextel, Reps. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, Reuben Tarver, R-Gillette, and Scott Heiner, R-Green River. The footage indicated Bextel handed something to Knapp. — Maggie Mullen 3:40 p.m. — The committee begins its work Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, the lawmaker who called for the investigation, walked into the room. She also took a seat at the front.  Although not all the witnesses were in their seats, Washut struck the gavel down and called the hearing to order. He explained the steps that were taken to get to this point and what the hearing was for.  “This is not a trial,” Washut said. “It is not a criminal proceeding. It is not a civil proceeding or any other adversarial proceeding. It is a legislative fact-finding inquiry. The committee is not adjudicating guilt and is not functioning as a judicial tribunal. The procedural safeguards required in court do not apply here.”  Chairman Art Washut, R-Casper, right, and Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River, during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) Washut said the duty of the committee was to come together with “open minds,” and to ask helpful questions and determine the facts based on the evidence presented. However, he recognized there was a “significant amount of information already in the public record,” and that over the course of two weeks, there was a “substantial volume of public reporting and commentary.”  He also said that time was limited.  “I intend to ensure this proceeding will remain focused, efficient and steadfast,” he said. “Testimony or questioning that is repetitive outside the scope of this committee’s charge, or otherwise immaterial, will be ruled out of order. We will not deviate from our charge.”  He said that the “charge” is to determine whether checks were provided to members on the floor and whether that conduct constitutes a violation of the applicable Constitutional or rule provisions.”  Washut went over the process for the meeting, from allowing witnesses to have legal counsel present to how media members should conduct themselves. Every member of the committee was in their seat. There were still chairs left for members of the public and not all the witnesses invited were in the room after his introduction.  Then, Legislative Service Office Director Matt Obrecht came before the committee to go over the rules.  When he was finished, Washut said committee members could make any comments before the witnesses came forward and evidence was presented.  Rep. Reuben Tarver, R-Gillette, a member of the committee, said he was with Knapp when he received something and he couldn’t say “what it was.” — Jasmine Hall 3:14 p.m. — The scene at the start Rebecca Bextel, the conservative activist at the center of the controversy, walked into the room about 10 minutes before the hearing began. She asked the committee members, “Am I a witness?” and took a seat at the front of the small crowd gathered in the Wyoming Supreme Court Chambers.  Lobbyists, Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers and other interested parties also filed in. Rebecca Bextel during the first meeting of the House Special Investigative Committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) At least three of the witnesses have arrived. Rep. Chris Knapp, R-Gillette was in the first row. He was asked to come before the committee for allegedly being involved in the incident where checks were passed out on the floor on the first day of the session. Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, sat behind Knapp in the second row. He was called as a witness to the incident. There are 14 seats set aside for witnesses at the front of the Historic Wyoming Supreme Court chambers. Fifteen were invited. The seven name plaques for Wyoming House Investigative Committee members are set on the bench. The American and Wyoming flags stood behind the committee members, who are tasked with questioning and reviewing whether the Constitution or the rules were broken. Nearly all the windows have been shut, but bright blue skies and sun shone through the few at the top of the towering walls of the chamber. — Jasmine Hall 3:02 p.m. — House Investigative Committee convenes The House Special Investigative Committee, responsible for investigating campaign checks handed out on the House floor on day one of the 2026 legislative session, kicked off Thursday afternoon.  The House unanimously voted to form the committee earlier this month after WyoFile and the Jackson Hole NewsGuide broke the news that Rebecca Bextel, a Jackson conservative activist, distributed campaigns on the House floor on behalf of a Teton County donor. Additional reporting confirmed other details, including the name of the donor — Don Grasso — and the 10 politicians he said he wrote campaign checks for, including: Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, Reps. Marlene Brady, R-Green River; John Bear, R-Gillette; Gary Brown, R-Cheyenne; Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette; Tony Locke, R-Casper; Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs; Joe Webb, R-Lyman; Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper, and former lawmaker Mark Jennings of Sheridan. All 10 have a tie to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.  Bear, McCann, Neiman and Webb are the only four to have so far publicly confirmed they accepted checks from Bextel. Bear and Neiman said they received checks off the floor.  Thursday, 15 witnesses were called to testify, including several lawmakers as well as Bextel, Grasso and a reporter from the Open Range Record, which is co-owned by Bextel.  The hearing was scheduled to last until 8 p.m. inside the Wyoming Capitol’s historic Supreme Court chambers. — Maggie Mullen For more legislative coverage, click here. The post Checkgate hearing live: Committee extracts details from lawmakers, citizen appeared first on WyoFile . ...read more read less