Bar Nunn Town Councilman Dan Sabrosky was sitting in a public council meeting Tuesday when a man served him with a defamation lawsuit from Wyoming congressional candidate Reid Rasner during the public participation part of the meeting.
That’s according to a video of the incident and an interview Sabrosky gave Thursday to Cowboy State Daily.
Reid Rasner, a Casper businessman vying for the Republican nomination for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat, sued Sabrosky and Sabrosky’s ex-wife Michelle St. Louis last Friday.
He claims they defamed him, launched a “whisper campaign” against him and hurt his business prospects and reputation.
The Town Council Meeting
The Bar Nunn Town Council meeting opened at 7 p.m. The public comment segment began about 15 minutes later, Sabrosky recalled in his Thursday interview.
A video from the meeting shows a bearded man shuffling papers approach the podium used for public commenters.
“My name is Jason Nobles and I’m actually a process server,” the man said. “I’ve been given a summons and complaint to serve one of your council members — a specific set of instructions by the attorney to do so here. So that is the reason for my presence.”
Nobles said the papers were for Sabrosky.
‘Be Here At 7'
The town’s attorney, Pat Holscher, questioned Nobles, according to Sabrosky, who identified the people in the video for Cowboy State Daily.
“Which attorney instructed you to serve it in an open council meeting?” asked Holscher.
Nobles looked down at the papers in his hand and named two firms: White and Steele P.C., and Fix Law Office. The former is based in Denver and the latter is based in Hawaii but lists Wyoming phone numbers, according to court documents.
Nobles named the attorneys John C. Matthews and Morgan Nance — who work for White and Steele — and William Fix, of Fix Law.
“And they instructed you to do it in a public meeting?” asked Holscher.
Nobles answered they had.
“They told me to be here at 7 and come here. You guys said it was open for public comment or grievances,” began Nobles, adding, “I’m not a part of this matter.”
Holscher said he understood Nobles was just doing his job.
Then Holscher asked to see the papers.
Nobles said he wouldn’t take any more of the council’s time. Holscher tried to prevent him from leaving, saying, “I’m not accepting service.”
Sabrosky said, “hand it to me.”
‘Lowest Thing I’ve Ever Seen'
Bar Nunn Mayor Peter Boyer was aghast.
“That’s probably the lowest thing I’ve ever seen in my life — and I’ve seen some pretty low stuff. I’ve been to Iraq twice,” said Boyer.
Sabrosky offered to explain what it was.
Boyer said he was “pretty sure who, and what it is.”
“I’ll tell you who it is, it’s Reid Rasner,” parried Sabrosky. “And it is low and dirty and underhanded, and believe me there’ll be more of it from him.”
Nobles declined Thursday to comment to Cowboy State Daily. Nance also declined to comment.
Fix asked to see the video of the incident before commenting. He did not return a request for comment after Cowboy State Daily sent him the video.
Matthews did not respond by publication to a Thursday-morning voicemail request for comment.
Rasner’s campaign team did not respond by publication to a 7 a.m. text message request for comment that included the video of the incident.
In Retrospect
The Iraq comparison was on the hyperbolic side, Boyer clarified during a Thursday interview with Cowboy State Daily. But he maintained his shock and consternation of the incident.
“He could’ve gotten Dan at his house,” Boyer told the outlet. “It’s a sleazy move and completely uncalled-for.”
Those meetings are to conduct the business of the town of Bar Nunn, said Boyer, “not for Reid Rasner to serve papers to anyone.”
‘Political’
Sabrosky told Cowboy State Daily that he hasn’t been able to find evidence on his home security video recordings that anyone tried to serve him papers at his home.
When Nobles first introduced himself at the Tuesday meeting, Sabrosky said he wondered if the lawsuit was an official action pertaining to the town of Bar Nunn.
Then, as the papers reached Sabrosky’s line of sight, he saw his ex-wife’s name on the caption and immediately thought he was facing a child support battle, he said.
He said he soon realized it was a Rasner lawsuit. He felt stressed the rest of the meeting, as he waited to get home so he could go through the papers.
Sabrosky said in his opinion, serving him with the summons at a public meeting “seems like a political strategy” and “an attempt to embarrass me.”
One of the four claims Rasner has filed against Sabrosky is civil conspiracy, which Sabrosky calls outlandish.
He and St. Louis have been divorced for about six years, he said. Court documents corroborate that statement.
“It’s shocking to see he’s attaching the two of us together,” said Sabrosky. “His claim that me and her colluded to take him down is absurd.”
Still, added Sabrosky, the claims against him appear vague and he’s preparing to fight the case.
“I’m not laying down for it, that’s for sure,” he said.
St. Louis said something similar in her Wednesday interview with Cowboy State Daily, in which she said Rasner could “bring it on.”
Holscher did not respond by publication to a late-day voicemail to his law firm.
The Four Sued
About eight months before he sued Sabrosky and St. Louis, Rasner sued former state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, claiming Bouchard leveled sexual misconduct rumors at him and harmed his business prospects.
That case is at least viable enough to advance to the evidence-swapping phase, District Court Judge Benjamin Kirven ruled in November.
Then in February, Rasner sued former state Sen. Austin “Kit” Jennings on similar claims. Jennings told the court Tuesday that Rasner’s lawsuit doesn’t support its legal claims, and he urged the court to dismiss it.
All three cases are ongoing.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
