Court Tosses Charges Over Misconduct by Wyoming US Attorney (1)

Federal judges found President Donald Trump’s pick for US attorney in Wyoming committed misconduct by making “inflammatory” remarks to grand jurors ahead of indictments charging defendants with murder, possession of child pornography, and other crimes.

Darin Smith, whose nomination is scheduled for a final vote in the Senate Monday, engaged in activity that gives the US District Court for the District of Wyoming “grave doubt that the decision to indict was free from the substantial influence of such violations,” three US district judges wrote in a joint order May 15 dismissing indictments against nine criminal defendants.

Defendants moved to toss the indictments over comments Smith made to prospective and selected grand jury panel members in March. One prospective juror informed the court that before a grand jury proceeding was on the record and a judge present, Smith told grand jurors they would hear cases involving “bad guys” who “did what you are going to hear about.”

Smith, who had no previous criminal or federal litigation experience, also called the defendants “murderers” and told jurors it “won’t take long,” to return an indictment after reviewing the evidence presented to them, according to the juror’s affidavit. The US attorney’s office hasn’t challenged the veracity of these claims, the court said.

A subsequent review of grand jury proceedings by the US attorney’s office found that during a break in presenting evidence to the grand jury, an assistant US attorney witnessed Smith handing out business cards and encouraging grand jury members to contact him. Smith also later told grand jurors that the cases the office was putting before them were “slam dunks,” according to the disclosure from his office.

The statements were “deeply concerning” to the Wyoming federal judges, who noted that the statements “were used to describe all of the Defendants — regardless of the individual facts and circumstances particular to a defendant’s alleged crimes.”

“This is incompatible with the protections of our grand jury system,” Chief US District Judge Kelly H. Rankin, a Biden appointee, wrote, joined by Reagan-appointed Judge Alan B. Johnson and Judge Scott W. Skavdahl, an Obama appointee.

The ruling is major loss for Smith’s office as his nomination has been condemned by Democrats and other critics over his lack of prior litigation experience and his presence outside the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Smith, a former Wyoming state senator whose campaign was endorsed by Trump, later made comments accusing law enforcement of “massive incompetence” and “entrapment.”

“How can a person like this be taken seriously to be the US attorney in the state of Wyoming?” Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in January just before the Republican-controlled panel voted to advance his nomination.

Durbin responded to news of the judges’ order by writing in a post on X Monday that Smith is “wholly unqualified to be a U.S. Attorney,” and “should NEVER be confirmed.”

Wyoming’s senators, both Republicans, have endorsed Smith as qualified, with Sen. Cynthia Lummis writing in an emailed statement in December that Smith “possesses the qualifications, experience, and values needed to take on this challenging role.”

Spokespeople for Lummis and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

The Senate is scheduled to vote to confirm Smith, along with a dozen other US attorney nominees, early Monday evening. Smith, who was appointed interim US attorney in August, has served in the role pending his confirmation.

The Wyoming judges dismissed the indictments without prejudice, giving the US attorney’s office a chance to take the cases to new grand juries.

Lori Hogan, a spokesperson for the office, declined to comment, noting in an email that office policy prohibits statements on pending litigation.

The cases are USA v. Hopper, D. Wyo., No. 1:26-cr-00028, indictments dismissed without prejudice 5/15/26.