When Wyoming businessman Reid Rasner, who floated ambitions toward buying TikTok, sued a former state legislator for defamation, the latter doubled down on some of the sexual misconduct allegations that landed him in court in the first place.
Rasner sued former state Sen. Anthony Bouchard in Laramie County District Court on July 8, for defamation and other claims.
He brought an amended complaint July 30, saying he had been defamed, had his business affairs intentionally disrupted and was subjected to negligent and purposeful emotional distress.
The amended complaint says Bouchard “orchestrated and participated in a whisper campaign aimed at promulgating false and salacious allegations against Rasner” after Rasner announced a run for U.S. Sen. John Barrasso’s seat in 2024.
Barrasso defeated Rasner in the Republican primary election that year.
On May 6, 2024, Bouchard disseminated social media posts making what Rasner’s amended complaint calls false and defamatory allegations.
“There’s a reason I cannot support DeepFlake Rasner,” wrote Bouchard, in the attached screenshots. Bouchard called Rasner the “former Drama Instructor from Casper College.”
Rasner was, rather, a student employee for one semester at Casper College from January 2011 through May 2011, the college told Cowboy State Daily in a July 11 email.
The college’s public relations director Chris Lorenzen added, “We are prohibited by law from disclosing information regarding disciplinary actions related to any student or employee.”
Lorenzen reiterated that position in a Friday email.
More Statements
Bouchard’s post continued: “There are enough Hollywood level Actors in the Swamp, we don’t need another one. If only his personnel file from his time while employed at Casper College was part of his political resume. It’s all by design.”
Another screenshot shows Bouchard posting the comment: “Ask him about his student sexual abuse record when he taught Drama classes,” and another: “I spoke to a parent about this. And what happened next? He sicked his attorney on the parent. Off to a bad start.”
On Aug. 3, 2024, Bouchard published the statement, “I personally know victims that Rasner has harmed. Bad guy,” according to the amended complaint and screenshots.
On Dec. 19, 2024, Bouchard said Rasner is not a “good replacement” for Barrasso, the document adds.
And in July of this year, Bouchard posted a link to a news story “seeking to discredit Mr. Rasner’s efforts to purchase TikTok.”
The story is a WyoFile republication of a South Dakota Searchlight story questioning whether Rasner has the wealth to support his reported $47.5 billion bid to buy TikTok.
The complaint says Bouchard’s social media posts “have been repeatedly propagated and disseminated by Defendant and others dozens of times over a period of many months, including throughout 2024 and 2025,” and that Bouchard’s remarks were “demonstrably false” and alleged “serious sexual misconduct.”
Rasner didn’t learn of the posts until August 2024, when his mother discovered them, the document says.
Motion To Dismiss, Or To Judge Early
Bouchard on Aug. 13 filed a motion to dismiss the case, which also served as an alternate motion to have the judge conclude the case early in Bouchard’s favor.
The filing lists Bouchard's attorneys as Stephen R. Klein of Washington, D.C.-based Barr & Klein, and Seth “Turtle” Johnson of Saratoga-based Slow and Steady Law Office.
It says Rasner hasn’t stated a viable claim under the law.
Even if the court finds that Rasner linked his claims to the proper state laws, the court should find that “none of Mr. Bouchard’s speech was communicated with actual malice,” the filing adds.
The “actual malice” wording is a reference to the higher bar public figures must meet if they’re suing others for defamation.
The 2010-Ish Conversation
Under his various legal arguments, Bouchard asserts that he had reasons to believe Rasner was involved in a sexual misconduct situation at Casper College.
Former Casper state legislator Austin Jennings said that around 2010, a teen close to him had been “instructed to pull his pants down and expose himself in a drama class,” Bouchard’s filing says.
Bouchard believed this and considered the described incident “serious sexual misconduct,” says his filing.
When Rasner announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate, Jennings told Bouchard that Rasner was the instructor who had given that directive to the teen, the filing says.
Rasner announced he’d made an offer to purchase TikTok in February 2025. He also registered a campaign committee to run for Wyoming governor on June 25, 2025, the filing notes.
Bouchard’s filing concludes that Rasner’s complaint itself “makes clear that he is a public figure.”
Public figures must hurdle a higher bar to sue others for defamation.
Rasner must prove that Bouchard had “subjective awareness of the falsity of the statements” or “entertained serious doubts as to the truth of the statements,” the filing relates from a 2018 Wyoming Supreme Court case.
The famous 1988 U.S. Supreme Court case Hustler Magazine v. Falwell concluded that public figures must show someone defamed them with “actual malice,” or knowledge that the statement was false, or with reckless disregard to whether it was true.
“There is no knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth to be found in Mr. Bouchard’s trusting a friend’s statement about the victimization of (the person close to him) and by Mr. Bouchard sharing details with others,” Bouchard’s filing asserts.
It references an affidavit Jennings signed, which was filed with the court the same day as Bouchard’s motion.
“Rasner even alleges that ‘Defendant fabricated the social media messages,’” the filing reads, adding, “Obviously not.”
Affidavit
Jennings’ affidavit says that when he was a state lawmaker, he spoke with Bouchard and told him that Jennings said a male teen, “along with some other students,” was instructed to pull his pants down and expose himself while taking a BOCES class in the drama department at Casper College," the affidavit says.
“BOCES” refers to a dual-credit program by which high school students can take college courses.
“I told Mr. Bouchard that a complaint had been filed with the college about the incident, but that the college did not follow up on the complaint,” wrote Jennings.
Jennings wrote that he doesn’t recall if he told Bouchard in 2010 that the alleged perpetrator was Rasner.
When Rasner declared his candidacy for U.S. Senate, Jennings told Bouchard that Rasner had been “the culprit” behind the incident, the affidavit says.
“In that same period of time,” wrote Jennings, “I received a letter an attorney in Colorado stating he represented Rasner. In the letter, the attorney ordered me to cease and desist any discussion with anyone about Rasner.”
Other Legal Stuff
Bouchard’s motion asserts other legal arguments, saying the posts Bouchard made before July 2024 don’t fit in the lawsuit because Wyoming has a one-year statute of limitations on slander and libel claims.
Though Rasner claimed the allegedly defamatory statements have been propagated and disseminated repeatedly, Bouchard’s attorneys ask the court to follow a “single publication rule” limiting the act of possible defamation to the statements’ original publication.
The Wyoming Supreme Court has not addressed this rule, wrote Bouchard’s attorneys, “but has acknowledged its existence.”
The other posts are not defamatory, Bouchard’s filing claims.
Bouchard writing, he “personally” knows “victims Rasner has harmed” could apply to anyone — especially amid a political campaign and business dealings, the filing says.
It links to a Cowboy State Daily story in which U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman was reported to have sent Rasner a cease-and-desist letter regarding some of his social media posts.
Hageman could even be considered a “victim” who was “harmed” by Rasner under the broad language of Bouchard’s post, the complaint alleges.
Other posts saying essentially that Rasner “wasn’t a good replacement” for Barrasso are “non-starters” and opinion statements that shouldn’t be in court, Bouchard’s filing says.
The filing calls Rasner’s complaints surrounding Bouchard linking to the WyoFile republication of the South Dakota Searchlight story “peak absurdity.”
Letting such a claim advance in court “would impose a chill on political discourse in Wyoming akin to the blizzard of 1886,” the filing says.
Bouchard’s filing also accuses Rasner of making vague allegations of other defamation, which the filing calls “phantom defamatory statements.”
The Counter
Rasner countered in a Sept. 2 filing asking the judge not to grant Bouchard’s motions.
It emphasizes that Bouchard made a statement about knowing victims “personally” around the same time Bouchard claimed Rasner has a “student sexual abuse record” at Casper College.
“Bouchard never suggests that he saw a police report arising from such an incident, saw any public mention of the incident, saw any adverse action taken by Casper College against Rasner, or even heard the account form a first-hand source,” wrote Rasner’s attorney Morgan Nance of White and Steele.
Rasner’s recent motion says Bouchard deleted or caused deletion of some of the comments Rasner’s amended complaint references, prompting Rasner’s legal counsel to reach out to Bouchard’s counsel about the “spoliation” of evidence.
Rasner’s recent filing says Bouchard’s motions aren’t well grounded.
For the statute of limitations argument, Rasner should have had until one year after his mother notified him of the posts (in August 2024) to sue, his filing says.
Rasner’s filing also takes issue with Bouchard’s claim the former referenced “phantom” statements to support his defamation claims, saying Rasner’s complaint “contains numerous examples of defamatory statements.”
The Light Most Favorable
Rasner’s recent filing calls Bouchard’s inclusion of outside materials — like Jennings’ affidavit and a Cowboy State Daily story — improper for this phase of the litigation.
The court is supposed to view a plaintiff’s allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, in the early stage of litigation.
A court can dismiss a case only when it’s certain from the face of the complaint that the plaintiff can’t assert any facts that would entitle him to relief, Rasner’s filing relates from a 2001 Wyoming case.
Courts do sometimes grant motions to dismiss, when a plaintiff’s claims aren’t viable.
Rasner asserts his claims are viable, and that the court should view his complaint without considering the outside documents Bouchard filed.
Rasner’s filing also calls Bouchard’s motion for summary judgement premature based on misstatements of applicable law, and deficient as a matter of law.
“Courts strongly disfavor parties filing motions for summary judgement before there has been the opportunity for discovery (exchange of evidence),” says the filing, adding that “here, virtually no discovery has occurred.”
Rasner’s counsel has sought discovery in the matter, including serving a subpoena on Casper College seeking Jennings’ alleged correspondence, and a subpoena to Jennings seeking documents and testimony relating to his claims, his filing says.
But Bouchard “has attempted to obstruct” those requests by claiming that discovery at this stage is improper, Rasner’s filing says.
Jennings’ Sept. 3 response to Rasner’s subpoena, sent Friday to Cowboy State Daily by Rasner’s representative Peter Graves, says Jennings won’t appear for deposition or produce documents on Sept. 10 as requested because the subpoena is premature.
Rasner Statement
Rasner’s office sent a statement on the case to Cowboy State Daily on Friday.
“Months after Mr. Rasner filed his defamation suit, Anthony Bouchard has produced no evidence that refutes our claim that he maliciously defamed Mr. Rasner,” the statement says. "The individual identified as the sole source of these statements, former State Senator and close associate Austin Jennings, was subpoenaed by Mr. Rasner's attorneys to appear for a sworn deposition on September 10, 2025.
"He has refused to appear and testify. Jennings has also failed to provide any documents or other evidence to support the false allegations. We remain confident in our case and will continue to pursue justice.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
