'An unqualified insurrectionist': outcry over Trump nominee in Wyoming

[dalton99a]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/07/trump-darin-smith-wyoming-january-6

‘An unqualified insurrectionist’: outcry over Trump nominee in Wyoming
Darin Smith, who was outside Capitol on January 6, decried as Senate mulls nomination as state’s top federal prosecutor
Chris Stein in Washington
Sat 7 Feb 2026 07.00 EST

A Republican former state lawmaker with no experience trying cases, a record of opposing LGBTQ+ rights, and who was outside the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, is awaiting Senate confirmation to become the top federal prosecutor in Wyoming.

Donald Trump first nominated Darin Smith as Wyoming’s US attorney last year, and the judiciary committee advanced him in a party-line vote in January. Democrats have condemned Smith, saying he lacks the experience necessary for the job and threatens to impose a discriminatory approach to federal law enforcement in the state where gay college student Matthew Shepard’s 1998 murder galvanized the LGBTQ+ rights movement.

“Darin Smith is an unqualified insurrectionist with no experience in federal or criminal litigation. Not only does his lack of a resume disqualify him, there are serious doubts about his ability to fairly uphold the rule of law for all Americans,” said Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the judiciary committee.

Smith’s nomination is before senators as Trump presses on with efforts to use federal law enforcement agencies to seek revenge against his political enemies, a campaign in which US attorneys – the presidential appointees who lead civil and criminal prosecutions in the nation’s 94 federal judicial districts – have played a major role.

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[sop]

1. "Awaiting Senate confirmation..."

Just a reminder: Republicans in the Senate are to blame for the many horrible things now happening in this country.