When a New Hampshire federal district court recently ruled that the Trump Department of Justice had no legal right to confidential voter information from the state, it was the 11th time that the DOJ was shut down and told to keep their grubby paws off the states’ voter info.
For those of you keeping track, it’s 11-0 on the scoreboard, and the states are pitching a no-hitter.
That begs the question, why did the Wyoming Secretary of State roll over and so readily provide that information to the feds based on a simple request, and not a formal subpoena?
Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray could have told the feds to shove their request where the sun don’t shine and, based upon those 11 aforementioned judicial decisions, he would have been on firm legal ground with the folks in black robes.
So, cynical minds might conclude that Gray had a political reason, rather than a legal reason, for sucking up to Trump’s DOJ.
A conspiracy theorist might deduce that Gray offered our confidential voter information to the feds, because he wanted to curry favor with Trump and hoped for an endorsement for Gray’s congressional campaign.
And anyone who has heard Gray thump his shoe on the table, and sermonize about the dangers of federal overreach has to be scratching their head.
An email from Gray to the Washington Post adds credence to that conjecture, and supports those who think that he was tickled pink to make Wyoming the first state to kow-tow to the feds.
In response to an inquiry from a reporter, Gray on January 28, 2026, said, “I am proud to have led other states in the nation in working with the DOJ…” and “Wyoming was the first state...to defend election integrity.”
Inquiring minds want to know why he sided with the feds over Wyoming, but Gray ain’t talking. Repeated requests under the Wyoming Public Records Act for Gray to reveal the reasoning behind his actions have been met with the same response. Gray says he was acting in close consultation with Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz, and any advice he received is protected by attorney/client privilege.
If Wyoming’s attorney general gave legal advice to the Secretary of State that hasn’t held up in 11 other states (and counting), then Wyoming citizens should have questions about that, too.
Wyoming Senator Cale Case asked Secretary Gray to explain himself in a Feb. 3, 2026 email. Gray shared that he had met with Kautz, gone over the DOJ request, and decided how Wyoming would knuckle under.
But, today when we ask Gray why he ran up the white flag, he just clams up.
Kind of leaves you wondering whether Chuck and his brain trust ever considered any of the reasons that have led 11 courts to say the DOJ never had the right to ask for ask any state for their confidential voter information.
The veil of secrecy between Wyoming government and it’s citizens is being ferociously defended at the expense of government transparency.
Wyoming’s Supreme Court was even given an opportunity to pierce that veil in favor of the citizenry, but squirmed their way off the horns of that dilemma on a legal technicality. So, nobody but Gray and Kautz know the legal justification for Gray’s release of the personal information of Wyoming voters to the DOJ, in clear violation of state law.
But, there’s an element of humor in this whole fiasco. The voter rolls that Gray sent to DOJ in August of last year, were obsolete as soon as they were sent.
Information on Wyoming voters is a moving target, and constantly in flux. State agencies and county clerks are constantly updating voter rolls – removing people who have died or who have moved away, adding new residents and newly registered voters. The Secretary of State doesn’t have that info until those agencies send it to him, and what he sent to the feds is currently incomplete and out-of-date.
Once DOJ realizes that, they’ll likely send Gray another polite request for our updated confidential personal information. It will be interesting to see how he responds.
Or, in their zeal for “election integrity”, the DOJ might merely suggest to Gray, in another friendly letter, that perhaps the federal government should take over the responsibility of conducting elections in Wyoming, since all the Wyoming Secretary of State can produce is out-dated information.
That would really put Li’l Chucky in a pickle and test his loyalties!
Author's note: "Pickle" is a baseball term denoting a player caught in a rundown on the base paths, and tagged out because he didn't stay on base.
Rod Miller can be reached at: RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com
