Editor:

The Third Judicial District Court has ruled in favor of the Uinta County Republican Party and its leadership in the recent case brought against them by Jon Conrad and his cohorts.

After receiving legal arguments and evidentiary submissions in the case, the court ruled that the Uinta County Republican Party had properly conducted their internal party election and had complied with both applicable party bylaws and relevant state statutes. The court’s ruling puts to rest repeated attacks by Conrad and others against both the party and its representatives.

The court’s order proves to me that Conrad, together with Danny Eyre, Wendy Schuler, Joseph Ronald “Ron” Micheli, Clarence Vranish, Clara Jean Vranish and Troy Nolan have been proven wrong.

They had filed suit against the Uinta County Republican Party and its officers, alleging that the 2021 party election was held improperly.

Conrad also filed a complaint with the Wyoming Secretary of State and solicited a criminal complaint against the Uinta County GOP officers. The Secretary of State determined that it lacked jurisdiction. Similarly, the special prosecutor refused to file any criminal case citing the lack of any violation of law. (Editor’s note: Court documents show that the special prosecutor determined the defendants likely violated the law, but chose not to prosecute).

The recent decision by the court has fully vindicated the party and has proven the claims of Conrad and his co-complainants were without merit.

While the court has now resolved the matter in the party’s favor, the case has uncovered a concerning trend of certain individuals seeking to divide the Republican Party. As part of the case, Conrad obtained and attempted to leverage an internal memorandum from the Wyoming Democratic Party — thus facilitating the Democratic Party sowing seeds of division within the Republican Party.

Further, it appears that plaintiffs received funding for the litigation from prominent Frontier Republicans such as Gail Symons. Additionally, plaintiff Ron Micheli appears to have received extensive funding for the lawsuit from billionaire B. Wayne Hughes, the new owner of the Cowboy State Daily.

Hughes appears to have provided this funding to Ron Micheli through a Political Action Committee (PAC), known as Wyoming Hope, the treasurer of which is his son, Matt Micheli. Conrad appears to have used this extensive financial network to pursue litigation and issue press releases to sow discord within the party and cause harm to his political opponents.

Rather than focusing on the division that Conrad has caused within the party, we must use this as an opportunity to highlight the legal victory over those who seek to divide us and band together as fellow Republicans to oppose the Biden/Pelosi/Shumer cabal and their errand girl, Liz Cheney.

Now more than ever we must come together as friends, neighbors and fellow Americans to stand as one against left-wing politics and federal overreach.

Lyle Williams

Bear River