Senate Confirms Darin Smith As US Attorney Days After 'Flagrant' Misconduct Finding [View all]

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Senate Confirms Darin Smith As US Attorney Days After 'Flagrant' Misconduct Finding

The U.S. Senate voted 46-43 Monday to confirm Darin Smith as U.S. Attorney for Wyoming — four days after the state's three federal judges ruled he committed "flagrant" misconduct. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis voted in Smith's favor.

Clair McFarland
May 18, 2026
8 min read


Darin Smith (Matt Idler for Cowboy State Daily)

The U.S. Senate majority voted 46-43 Monday to confirm Darin Smith as Wyoming’s top federal prosecutor for the next four years, among a slate of other Trump-backed nominees for federal offices.

The Senate’s approval comes four days after all three sitting judges of the U.S. District Court for Wyoming dismissed nine felony cases, citing “flagrant” misconduct by Smith that prejudiced nine defendants. ... One of those cases contained a first-degree murder charge.

Smith had ingratiated himself with grand jurors at an indictment proceeding in March, had called prospective defendants “murderers,” and “bad people,” and called the cases “slam dunks,” court documents say.

The judges dismissed the cases “without prejudice,” meaning the government can bring charges again, and they’ve paused their order until Wednesday to give Smith’s office time to appeal. ... But defense attorneys on the cases are urging the judges to reconsider and dismiss the cases altogether, saying, “this Court retains the inherent supervisory power to dismiss an indictment with prejudice when prosecutorial misconduct is flagrant, widespread, or continuous.”

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This story has been updated to include post-publication comments.

Clair McFarland can be reached at [e-mail].