An anonymous gun-themed website is targeting U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, over her support of a failed proposal that would have sold off 2 million to 3 million acres of federal public lands over five years.
The site, first reported on by The Federalist, identifies itself as Project Winchester and displays imagery of a Winchester rifle next to the Wyoming state flag. It also references the Winchester as “the gun that won the West.”
Although the sell-off called for 2 million to 3 million acres to be sold, language across the one-page site accuses Hageman of siding with “Washington insiders” to potentially sell 15 million acres of federal land, including parts of Wyoming. That decision, it claims, makes Hageman a threat to the livelihoods of her constituents.
Hageman’s office calls the website reckless and says the group’s aggressive logo and lack of transparency “encourage” violence.
“These aren’t Wyoming values and it’s not exactly part of the Code of the West to make anonymous threats like this website does,” Tim Murtagh, a political advisor for Hageman, told Cowboy State Daily.
Attempts to determine the owner or administrator of the website were not successful.
A request for a response from Project Winchester was returned via the chat function on its website, where a spokesperson, who did not reveal him or herself, called the claim from Hageman’s office “absurd.”
What Is Project Winchester?
Project Winchester describes itself online as “a grassroots campaign to remove Harriet Hageman from office and defend Wyoming’s public lands.”
The group further identifies itself as a coalition of “ranchers, hunters, outdoor businesses and everyday citizens to say loud and clear: Wyoming is not for sale.”
Visitors to the site may “subscribe” by entering an email address, and then receiving a message containing a link to confirm their email.
An accompanying X account linked to the site has 82 followers and vows to “remove her from office.”
Since its creation in June, that account has shared content criticizing federal lawmakers over their approach to the sale of federal lands.
The anonymous spokesperson for Project Winchester told Cowboy State Daily the group is planning an official launch for its initiative against Hageman in the fall.
The group referred further questions to Trevor Neilson, president and CEO of artificial intelligence developer Prometheus Hyperscale, whom it named as a “supporter” of the movement.
Neilson told Cowboy State Daily on Friday that he is among others working to raise “a large amount of money” from donors to defeat Hageman in either a congressional reelection bid or a potential Wyoming gubernatorial campaign.
He lambasted Hageman as Utah Sen. “Mike Lee’s primary cheerleader to sell off our public lands” and accused the congresswoman of abusing her federal power.
“It’s just getting started, but the people involved are from all sorts of backgrounds but agree on one thing — that vote and her active support of the plan shows how out of touch she is with Wyoming,” Neilson wrote.
Hageman never voted on the proposal to sell federal lands, which was proposed by Lee and debated in the Senate, but it was ultimately killed. She did defend it by saying it wasn’t a wholesale sell-off of prime parcels of federal public land.
Neilson, who lives in Jackson, has publicly criticized Hageman over her stance on public lands on X and even in a June op-ed in Cowboy State Daily.
His LinkedIn page shows that he has been based in Wyoming since at least July 2024 and was living or working in Washington, D.C., previously.
While Neilson identified himself as a registered Republican, his broad background, which includes working with global philanthropic ventures, private equity and investment groups, includes serving in former President Bill Clinton’s administration and a surrogate for former President Barack Obama, according to a biography listed with the Disruptor Awards which was posted at least since April, 2020. These awards highlight people who create breakthroughs in technology and culture that help solve social problems.
Neilson on Saturday denied being a surrogate for Obama, saying he was merely a donor.
Neilson also worked with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as director of public affairs and director of special projects.
Concerns of Violence, Political Misconduct
Concerns that Project Winchester’s website may be acting improperly or encouraging violence come during a year when violent attacks on politicians are on the rise, most notably in the case of the killing of a Minnesota state representative and her spouse in June.
In March, Hageman canceled in-person town halls because of threats of violence.
Murtaugh told Cowboy State Daily that Project Winchester could be construed as a dog whistle for extreme action from fringe political actors.
“The radical left has been rejected nationally by the voters and some of them know nothing other than to turn to violence, or encourage it in others,” he wrote via text message. “Remember that Rep. Hageman was forced to cancel in-person town hall meetings for a time because rabid leftist activists were too dangerous.”
Project Winchester rejected the accusations in an email statement shared with Cowboy State Daily.
“That's absurd and and [sic] shows Harriet has spent too many years in the marble hallways and cocktail parties of Washington, D.C., first as a lobbyist and and [sic] more recently as a Congresswoman trying to sell of [sic] our public lands,” the group said.
Neither the website nor X (formerly Twitter) account contain any explicit demands for violence, according to analysis by Cowboy State Daily.
Watchdog group Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) last week filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, calling for an investigation into Project Winchester and accusing it of failing to properly register as a political committee.
“Project Winchester should not be permitted to continue making independent expenditures and soliciting contributions with disregard to federal registration and reporting requirements,” the complaint reads. “The FEC should therefore conduct an investigation to determine whether Project Winchester violated the law and to what extent.”
The costs associated with maintaining Project Winchester’s website and X account, FACT claimed, may likely exceed the required $1,000 threshold to register as a political committee.
Hageman’s Stance
Hageman, who was reelected to Congress with a sweeping 71% of votes in November, has defended herself from criticism for her support of Lee’s since-scuttled effort in the Senate, saying her stance had been purposefully distorted by misinformation campaigns.
The congresswoman in June wrote an op-ed for Cowboy State Daily in which she explained the “narrowly-focused and targeted” measure would have helped create more affordable housing for working class families. Hageman accused “activists” of “willingly distorting” the bill’s contents.
The proposal would have directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to identify federal lands for potential sale. Wyoming was among 10 other Western states identified for implementation of the plan through Lee’s bill. Also among those mentioned were Colorado, Idaho and Utah.
“Let’s be clear: this proposal does not authorize the mass sale of federal lands, nor does it target our National Parks, Wilderness Areas, the National Trails System, a National Preserve, etc., or any other ‘Federally Protected Land,’” Hageman wrote in her op-ed.
“These are not pristine forests or expanses of untouched wilderness we’re talking about. These are often checkerboard parcels or isolated holdings that are inefficient for the federal government to manage and are obstructing community growth,” she added.
Local Outrage
Hageman’s decision to back Lee’s bill has pushed some Wyomingites to speak out against the measure.
Muley Fanatic Foundation CEO Joey Faigl, who is not affiliated with Project Winchester, wrote via email that the proposal still threatens public lands, despite what lawmakers claim.
"Public lands need to stay in public hands and the Muley Fanatic Foundation opposes anything or anyone that threatens our lands that we hold dear for personal use,” he wrote.
