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Reports on Wyoming State Government Activity

Freedom Caucus PAC returns Crook County donation after Wyoming senator objects

A door that says "President of the Senate Ogden Driskill."
Chris Clements
/
Wyoming Public Media
The door to Senate President Ogden Driskill's office on March 28, 2024.

This story is part of our new Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state. 

The far-right Wyoming Freedom Caucus recently returned a $25,000 donation from the Crook County Republican Party.

That’s after Senate President Ogden Driskill (R-Devils Tower) filed a complaint against the caucus’s political action committee last week.

Driskill said the donation violated part of the state’s Election Code, known as Title 22.

More specifically, he pointed to W.S. 22-25-104, which says political party funds can’t be used to try to get one candidate to win over another in a primary where both candidates are in the same party.

In a letter attached to his complaint, Driskill said “it is clear that the donation goes against the statute. Actual spending and actions of the PAC have proven this out this election cycle.”

A spokesperson for the Freedom Caucus said in a statement that they weren’t returning the donation because of Driskill’s complaint, but because the issue had turned into a “politically motivated prosecution for the sake of another headline.”

In an interview Driskill gave to Cowboy State Daily after the donation was returned, he said he still wants the courts to get involved in the matter.

This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.

Chris Clements is a state government reporter and digital media specialist for Wyoming Public Media based in Laramie. He came to WPM from KSJD Radio in Cortez, Colorado, where he reported on Indigenous affairs, drought, and local politics in the Four Corners region. Before that, he graduated with a degree in English (Creative Writing) from Arizona State University. Chris's news stories have been featured on KUNC, NPR newscasts, and National Native News, among others.

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