The former Wyoming state lawmaker being sued over claims of sexual misconduct he reportedly leveled at a Wyoming investor is now asking to pull a news outlet into the lawsuit.
Reid Rasner, who ran an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 2024 and voiced a wish earlier this year to buy social media platform TikTok, sued former state Sen. Anthony Bouchard in July.
Rasner is accusing Bouchard of defaming him by posting Facebook comments that said Rasner had a “student sexual abuse record” at Casper College.
Rasner in an amended complaint also alleged that Bouchard “continued his attacks” on Rasner’s reputation by posting a link to a WyoFile story, which was a republication of a South Dakota Searchlight story casting doubt on Rasner’s claims of significant wealth.
In response, Bouchard on Dec. 12 filed a third-party complaint against WyoFile, calling for it to defend itself from liability alongside him.
WyoFile’s executive editor told Cowboy State Daily the outlet didn’t defame anyone, and Bouchard’s attempt to share potential liability with WyoFile is “absurd.”
The Searchlight
The South Dakota Searchlight story WyoFile republished questions whether Rasner has enough wealth to support his reported $47.45 billion bid to buy social media platform TikTok.
It says that “(Rasner’s) background offers no definitive proof to support that descriptor (of billionaire).”
“Instead,” it continues, “disclosures filed during his Senate campaign show a self-employed financial adviser who owns some real estate, sells used goods on eBay for a sizable portion of his income, and is more than $1 million in debt due to a loan he received from a family trust.”
The story also quotes state House Appropriations Chair John Bear, R-Gillette, dismissing Rasner’s reported TikTok bid as a “publicity stunt.”
Rasner’s complaint called the news story “a dubious article seeking to discredit Mr. Rasner’s efforts to purchase TikTok” and said Bouchard endorsed the story on social media “To promote false narratives about Mr. Rasner.”
In a blanket reference to a series of Bouchard posts altogether — including the re-posting of the story — the complaint says Bouchard “knew or should have known” his posts were false.
Rasner did not file suit against WyoFile or the South Dakota Searchlight, however.
Bouchard Beckons WyoFile
Bouchard in past filings derided Rasner’s laments about the WyoFile story as an affront to the First Amendment.
He reiterated that stance in a Dec. 12 filing by his attorney Seth “Turtle” Johnson of Saratoga-based Slow and Steady Law Office, writing, “If posting a link on social media to a third party’s article without any commentary or additional words can establish (an at-first-glance) claim for defamation per se, defamation and tortious interference, then the First Amendment is in dire straits in Wyoming.”
But Bouchard also called for WyoFile to defend itself alongside him in the defamation suit.
If Rasner seeks to hold Bouchard liable for claims based on the WyoFile story, says Johnson’s filing, then Bouchard “seeks indemnification from WyoFile” for its speech.
WyoFile Stands By Its Work
Matthew Copeland, executive editor of WyoFile, rebutted Rasner’s claims against the news story and criticized Bouchard’s legal maneuver as a deflection.
“WyoFile hasn’t defamed anyone,” wrote Copeland in a Wednesday email to Cowboy State Daily. “We stand by our work.”
Whether Bouchard has defamed anyone “is a matter for the court to decide,” he added.
“The notion, however, that WyoFile is somehow responsible for Anthony Bouchard’s speech is absurd,” wrote Copeland, “and frankly an affront to the idea of personal responsibility.”
A piece by WyoFile columnist Rod Miller also surfaced in Bouchard’s third-party complaint against the news outlet.
Miller in a Dec. 3 column on the defamation case wrote that “The judicial outcome of that soap opera is pending, and popcorn futures are up to the limit in anticipation.”
Miller’s columns are not news, but opinion.
The South Dakota Searchlight, contacted via the reporter who wrote the WyoFile piece, declined Thursday to comment.
Rasner Says Bouchard ‘Pointing Fingers’
Rasner’s team in a Wednesday press release said Bouchard’s filing reflects that he “has begun pointing fingers at others in an apparent attempt to avoid responsibility for his own defamatory statements.”
Bouchard’s third-party complaint “targeting WyoFile,” the release continues, “does nothing to change the central fact of the case: the false and damaging allegations were made by Bouchard himself.”
Rasner is quoted in the statement, saying, “The truth is very simple… Anthony Bouchard wrote the posts. Anthony Bouchard published the accusations. And Anthony Bouchard chose to accuse me of criminal conduct that never happened. Now that he’s facing real consequences, he’s trying to shift blame to anyone else he can.”
The press release says Rasner’s lawsuit is based on Bouchard’s words, posts and comments that “did not originate with a news outlet.”
“Dragging others into this doesn’t erase what he said,” Rasner said. “It doesn’t change the posts.
It doesn’t change the damage. And it doesn’t change accountability.”
Rasner emphasized that he seeks to restore his reputation, and his legal team will now begin issuing subpoenas and taking sworn testimony “to uncover the full scope of how these false accusations were made, repeated, and weaponized.”
Bouchard did not respond by publication to a text message request for comment.
More About The Sex Claims
Regarding Bouchard’s alleged comments about Rasner’s “sex abuse record” at Casper College, the school in an Oct. 31 filing denied ever receiving a report of sexual misconduct regarding Rasner, and said Casper College has a “zero tolerance” policy for such acts.
Bouchard’s friend Austin Jennings, conversely, told the court in August that he heard of Rasner committing sexual misconduct during or prior to 2010 and repeated the account to Bouchard.
Judge Benjamin Kirven ruled Nov. 26 that Rasner’s claims against Bouchard are viable enough to progress to the evidence-swapping, or discovery phase of the case.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
