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.

Through a spokeswoman, Smith declined to comment.

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.

Last year, the president appointed his former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan as interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, even though she had no experience as a prosecutor. Halligan swiftly brought charges against Letitia James, the New York attorney general, and James Comey, the former FBI director, both of whom Trump has publicly singled out for retribution.

A federal judge threw out those indictments and harshly criticized Halligan, who later left her position.

Senate Republicans have confirmed 31 US attorneys since Trump took office a year ago, after changing the chamber’s rules to overcome delay tactics from the Democratic minority. Trump initially nominated Smith in July and he assumed office the following month on an interim basis, after resigning a seat in the state senate seat he had been elected to the year prior.

Smith received the endorsement of the state’s all-Republican congressional delegation, with senator John Barrasso saying in a statement: “President Trump made a solid, conservative choice in nominating Darin. Darin’s experience in the Wyoming state senate and years of practicing law in Wyoming will serve him well.”

In written questions submitted to lawmakers on the Senate judiciary committee, Smith, who was admitted to the Wyoming bar in 2000, acknowledged that prior to taking the job of US attorney, he had never before appeared in court as part of a criminal or civil proceeding, questioned a witness before a grand jury or applied for a warrant.

Responding to a question that asked him to describe the “10 most significant litigated matters which you personally handled”, Smith replied: “My legal practice has emphasized counseling, planning, and transactional work aimed at avoiding litigation. As a result, I have not personally handled 10 significant litigated matters that proceeded to verdict, judgment, or final decision.”

Between 2018 and when he began as interim US attorney, Smith listed on his questionnaire that he held positions at the Family Research Council, a Washington DC-based group that advocates for conservative Christian policies.

He said he agreed with the organization’s opposition to same-sex marriage and its belief that homosexuality was “harmful”. He also told lawmakers that he disagreed with a 2020 US supreme court ruling that employers cannot discriminate against gay and transgender workers.

He was similarly critical of a bill introduced in Wyoming’s legislature in 2017 to ban employment discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals, calling it a “Trojan horse to legislate morality”.

“It allowed government officials and entities funded by taxpayers to elevate the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals over the rights of the rest of the population,” he wrote. “Everyone should be treated equally, period.”

During his brief time in the state senate, he co-sponsored bills that would have allowed librarians to face charges for “promoting obscenity”, and prevented state employees from being required to call coworkers by their preferred pronouns. The former was voted down in a committee, while the latter became law.

“Darin Smith has spent his career obsessed with making life worse for LGBTQ+ people, opposing marriage equality, cosponsoring state legislation targeting transgender youth, and smearing LGBTQ+ people in public statements,” said David Stacy, vice-president of government affairs at LGBTQ+ rights group Human Rights Campaign.

“Just over two decades after Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in that same state, Wyoming deserves better than tired anti-LGBTQ+ hate at the helm of federal law enforcement.”

Smith told US senators he was on the grounds of the Capitol on January 6, but said he did not enter the building. He maintains that the election in which Trump lost his bid for a second consecutive term was affected by “imperfections”, and believes that the attack on the Capitol was set up by unnamed actors.

“From my vantage point, I thought it was apparent that certain individuals acted as agitators, intentionally misleading others and escalating tensions, which created conditions resembling entrapment,” he said in a questionnaire.

Asked whether he agreed with Trump’s pardons of rioters convicted of attacking police officers, Smith said: “I believe that our constitution gives every president the power to pardon any individual for offenses against the United States.”

Vermont’s Democratic senator Peter Welch accused Smith of “rewriting history about January 6”, and noted that Republicans rejected a previous US attorney nominee, Ed Martin, who was appointed to handle prosecutions in the District of Columbia, over his comments in support of rioters.

“He’s blaming the police officers for what the assailants did,” Welch said of Smith. “Every one of us, my view, should condemn that language. So, his lack of experience, his words in support of January 6 are disqualifying for him to serve as US attorney.”

A spokesman for Senate majority leader leader John Thune did not respond to a request for comment on when his nomination will be voted on by the full chamber.

SWEETWATER COUNTY — A nonprofit born from loss, friendship and a graveside promise brought its message of mental health awareness and suicide prevention to Sweetwater County this week, delivering cowboy boots and conversation to seniors at Black Butte High School.

The Jae Foundation centers its outreach around “Boot-Check Moments,” intentional check-ins prompted by cowboy boots meant to symbolize belonging, purpose and connection.

The program is rooted in the life of Jae Bing, a Pinedale native known for his love of cowboy boots, fishing and people. Jae died by suicide in 2016 at the age of 27. His longtime friend Jason started the foundation as a commitment to his friend that something good, amazing, and transformational would emerge from the darkness.

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At Jae’s funeral, Jason noticed two things that stayed with him, the diversity of people who came to mourn, regardless of faith or background, and the overwhelming number of cowboy boots worn in Jae’s honor.

After the burial, Jason returned alone to Jae’s grave, where he made a promise that something good would come from the tragedy.

That promise eventually became the Jae Foundation.

Growing up in Pinedale, Jason and Jae attended school, activities and celebrated milestones together. Jae, adopted from South Korea by the Bing family, stood out as a Korean cowboy in a predominantly white, rural town. Friends remember him for his charisma, humor and constant concern for others.

“From the outside, it looked like he was on top of the world,” said Wyoming Outreach Coordinator Julie Mackey, “but unfortunately, he was not doing okay.”

Jason last spoke with Jae days before his death. The news came through a phone call from his father on a Sunday morning. Jason later described that day as one of the hardest of his life.

The organization struggled to find its footing in its early years, including a period when little progress was made and the nonprofit’s bank account sat dormant. Momentum finally came years later during a visit to Pinedale’s Cowboy Shop, when Jason bought a friend his first pair of cowboy boots, a moment he described as the beginning of healing.

Today, the foundation’s High School Senior Boot Program has expanded across Wyoming. Every graduating senior at Black Butte High School, along with several early graduates, received a pair of boots during the event, funded through local fundraising, donations and community support.

“These are not just any boots, they’re a reminder that you are loved, valued, needed and that you belong here,” Mackey told the students.

The foundation’s presence reflects growing efforts to address youth mental health through community-based approaches, especially in Wyoming, which has long struggled with high suicide rates.

After students tried on their boots, they were asked to look around the room, a visual reminder that everyone’s boots were different, just as everyone’s story is different.

The foundation’s message is simple, boot-check others and don’t walk alone.