The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary advanced President Donald Trump’s nomination of former state Sen. Darin Smith for Wyoming’s lone U.S. Attorney seat Thursday, in a 12-10 vote along party lines.
The gesture sends Smith’s confirmation question to the full U.S. Senate for a vote, which Smith confirmed to Cowboy State Daily could happen in January.
Besides confirming that timeframe, Smith declined to comment, saying he’d been advised by the U.S. Department of Justice not to comment on the ongoing process.
Two Democratic senators, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Peter Welch of Vermont, cast Smith as unqualified, and derided his comments in reference to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach and his presence on the grounds that day.
“Mr. Smith in Wyoming is not remotely qualified to be a United States Attorney,” Durbin said, criticizing Smith for his lack of experience in criminal law. “This nomination makes a mockery of the nomination process. Apparently, his only qualification is his loyalty to MAGA orthodoxy.”
Durbin and Welch both criticized Smith for charged political comments he’s made in the past, saying the Jan. 6, 2021, incident involved “entrapment” police incompetence, and that offenders charged in the incident should be pardoned.
“As my colleagues remember, a violent mob assaulted police officers, destroyed government property and attempted to thwart our democratic process,” said Durbin. “Mr. Smith baselessly claimed hundreds of Capitol police officers who risked their lives that day were guilty of ‘massive incompetence.’ Those were his words.”
The January 6 Interview
Smith spoke at length of the Capitol incident in an interview with Cowboy State Daily hours after it happened.
He said the rally of more than 50,000 people was peaceful one moment, and “then everything got weird.”
He said when the agitators starting pushing down the gates, he picked up a bullhorn and started the chant “back the blue” as a way to get folks to help the police keep the agitators back. But it was “like trying to hold back water after the dam had burst.”
He said he saw Capitol police open the barricades and let the people enter, and that he was “shocked at the lack of resistance from the Capitol police.
‘I’m Troubled’
Smith said he believed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
Durbin called that a “radical, dangerous claim.”
“I’m also concerned Mr. Smith will not enforce federal laws if confirmed,” added Durbin, saying Smith called the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County “wrongly decided.”
That case determined that workplace discrimination against LGBTQ and transgender people is equivalent to sex discrimination and therefore barred by federal law, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Durbin said Smith also refused to affirm the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution applies to non-citizens, “despite longstanding Supreme Court precedent.”
“I’m troubled by his stunning lack of judgment,” said Durbin.
Durbin said Smith left blank a form about his involvement in any significant legislation.
In Smith’s whirlwind service to the Wyoming state Senate, he sponsored three bills, which all died. Many bills he co-sponsored became law, however.
Those include a law letting people sue state government entities for substantially burdening their exercise of religion; a ban of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts by state government institutions, a ban on sanctuary-city policies across the state; and a school-choice program that has since been paused by a court amid state constitutional questions.
Trump Pick
Smith, a Republican, was sworn in to the position of U.S. Attorney for Wyoming on Aug. 11, on an interim basis – 12 days after Trump nominated him for the spot.
Wyoming’s all-Republican congressional delegation lauded the pick.
“Darin Smith is ready and well-qualified to serve as Wyoming’s chief federal law enforcement officer,” said Sen. John Barrasso at the time. “President Trump made a solid, conservative choice in nominating Darin.
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis echoed that.
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman voiced support, saying Smith would “uphold the rule of law, defend Wyoming values, and work tirelessly to keep our communities safe.”
The question of who becomes Wyoming's top federal prosecutor is especially important on the Wind River Indian Reservation where, in general, people accused of felony crimes are prosecuted by the federal official rather than an elected prosecutor of their choice.
When accused of state crimes outside the reservation and other federal jurisdiction zones, people in Wyoming are prosecuted by their locally elected county or district attorneys.
‘What Are We Doing?’
Welch noted Smith’s lack of experience in criminal law, but said he, Welch, was “especially alarmed about (Smith’s) role in January 6.”
Welch acknowledged that Smith’s not accused of violence or property destruction himself.
But, said Welch, Smith called for “cop beaters (to) be pardoned” in connection with the incident.
“I mean, seriously, what are we doing?” asked Welch. “His lack of experience, his words in support of January 6 are disqualifying for him to serve as U.S. Attorney.”
Some Background
Smith in 2021 launched a run for U.S. House Rep. Liz Cheney’s at-large seat, but stepped aside when Hageman joined the race.
In 2024 he won a state Senate seat representing parts of Laramie County and all of Platte County.
Through the nomination of district-residing GOP leaders and the appointment of the two county commissions, Taft Love now occupies that seat after Smith’s Aug. 11 resignation.
Smith founded the Smith Group Law Office in 2000 and has served as the managing partner for the past 25 years. Smith also serves as the Director of Planned Giving and Foundations for the Family Research Council.
Smith received his B.S. from the University of Wyoming in 1996 and his J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 2000.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
