Public Defender Renee Alsept actively espouses her hatred for President Trump and Trump supporters on social media
Ken Vance, editor
Clark County Today
A Clark County employee hasn’t been shy about expressing her hatred for President Donald Trump, his supporters, law enforcement and has even mocked “Vantucky’’ residents. Yet, her actions apparently don’t violate the county’s social media guidelines or threaten her employment status.
Renee Alsept has been a public defender with the Clark County Public Defense Department since Nov. 1, 2024. She is a county employee. Dating at least back to 2020, including the period of time she has been employed by Clark County, Alsept has routinely made profane posts on social media about President Trump and his supporters.
A source shared screenshots of 27 social media posts made by Alsept in the last five years, most of which were made in the last year. Here is an example of those posts:
The same source that provided the screenshots told Clark County Today they made an inquiry on July 7 about Alsept’s social media activity with the Clark County Human Resources Department. The following day, Alsept made the following post on social media:
County Manager Kathleen Otto told Clark County Today Thursday that she was just recently made aware of Alsept’s social media activity.
“HR received an anonymous phone call on July 8,’’ Otto wrote in an email reply. “I was briefly made aware at the end of last week. I did not see any posts until last night.’’
Otto was asked what actions were taken or if Alsept was spoken too. Alsept’s direct manager is Christopher Swaby, the county’s director of public defense and chief public defender.
“All concerns received are reviewed and the County does not comment on personnel matters,’’ replied Otto, who confirmed that Alsept was still employed by the county.
Clark County Today spoke with a few current and former county councilors. Former Councilor Gary Medvigy, who also had more than a 40-year career as a judge, was the most outspoken about Alsept’s behavior.
“Awful, awful, awful,’’ Medvigy said. “This is Antifa material and the statements of a radicalized person. No county government, taxpayer supported position should employ a person that is so hateful of the voting public.’’
Medvigy and one other former councilor each pointed to the Clark County Charter as a problem when it comes to the management of county employees.
“If a councilor had known and acted on it, the Charter would have considered the councilor’s behavior ‘interference’ with the Executive Branch,’’ the former councilor said.
Medvigy agreed with that assessment.
“That precisely describes what is wrong with the current charter, making the councilors’ job ineffective and frustrating and very much window dressing compared to the manager’s resources and independence,’’ Medvigy said. “For me as well the unbalanced charter was the main reason I left.’’
Otto told Clark County Today that the county does have a social media policy, but that it doesn’t govern activity on an employee’s personal accounts.
“We do have a social media policy for employees who are posting on County social media sites – this does not cover employees’ own personal social media sites,’’ said Otto, who provided a portion of the county’s Human Resources policy as a reference.
- 13.6 Political Activity – basically states that employees can’t conduct any political activity as a condition of employment or using any county resources. Additionally, employees can’t discriminate against an employee based upon political views or affiliations unless the “affiliation or support is found to be a bona fide consideration in the quality and effectiveness of their job performance and contribution to the organization.”
Other Clark County Today sources have indicated a concern for Alsept’s ability to represent defendants without bias and expressed the belief that her defendants deserve to be made aware of her social media activity.
Clark County Today has reached out to Renee Alsept via email. This story will be updated if a response is received.
Also read:
- Opinion: Washington is bleeding taxpayers and now a State Representative wants to make it worse
Mark Harmsworth argues that a proposed statewide payroll tax would worsen Washington’s ongoing loss of jobs, businesses, and economic competitiveness. - Theater students overcome challenges for the love of their art at River HomeLink
River HomeLink theater students overcome an atypical schedule and lack of a stage as they prepare Descendants: The Musical for performances at Prairie High School. - Tix for Tots hosting original Nativity performanceA free Nativity performance and community event hosted by Tix for Tots will take place Dec. 20 in Battle Ground.
- Opinion: Simultaneous left turnsDoug Dahl explains how Washington law directs drivers to make simultaneous left turns by passing to the left of each other in an intersection.
- Opinion: WEA secret meeting about opposing the initiatives gets leakedAn opinion from Let’s Go Washington criticizes a leaked Washington Education Association meeting about opposing LGW’s initiatives on girls’ sports and school transparency.
- WA Gov. Bob Ferguson says his budget will rely on cuts, not taxes, to balanceGov. Bob Ferguson plans to balance Washington’s budget through spending cuts, rejecting sales and property tax increases amid a multi-billion dollar shortfall.
- City of Battle Ground implements electronic plan reviewThe City of Battle Ground launches eReview, an electronic plan review platform that streamlines permit submissions and improves transparency and efficiency starting December 1, 2025.
How terrible it must be to carry so much hate around inside.
That said, what Ms. Renee Alsept needs to address her raging Trump Derangement Syndrome is a big, tall glass of Get Over It, with a nice straw so she can suck it up.
do you plan to ask congress to stop Trump or any other political person doing this? are you really serious? that would mean almost all republicans elected in DC and. beyond.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Your sister is a public defender that has used her social media to show her hatred for people that she is sworn to defend to the best of her abilities, there is absolutely no reason to think she is capable of doing that
I feel like a lot of readers here need some of that same beverage, and drinking device, to deal with their hurt feelings in regard to local and state politics. The only real difference between the whining here locally and the TDS crowd is that local candidates aren’t helped by the electoral college…. A majority of voters voted for them. The TDS people use the fact that not even half of the electorate voted for the president in any election as justification for their TDS, while the president’s supporters call getting less than half of the popular vote a “mandate”. Different perspectives I suppose. TDS has become as meaningless a term as RINO or fake news They are all ways to avoid explaining hypocrisy by the individual or by their dear leader.
So confused what was the purpose of this article? We see this kind of talk on social media from both parties.Why is her posts a “clutch my pearls” moment? Isn’t our country built on the president of freedom of speech? If it’s aloud for our government officials and the President posts it should be for Clark county representatives! If a change needs to happen start with our leaders who have set this example. It’s an opinion move on scroll past if you don’t like it.
The distain she has for Vancouver residents, who pay her salary via taxes, is troubling.
Fire her.
Oh my, so if you work for the County, you lose your right to Freedom of Speech on your own time? There is nothing of distain to others. Actually every one of her posts are the truth. Why would anyone who believes in freedom have a problem with that? Many of us think more people need to speak up.
Yep, she’s dissing her employer, we tax payers.
Inaccurate. Ms. Alsept has spent her career serving people across the state and here in Clark County. Her attachment to our community and the justice system is unmatched.
Yet, we are ‘Vantukies.’
Are you applying this idea to hate speech by conservatives? They are the worst!
you are making this about you and the taxpayers. She does not owe you anything. She only owes clients the best possible work she can give them and they get that. In fact, she is one of the most highly requested public defenders in Clark County. She saved the Clark County taxpayers money with her work. work. And much of the Clark County money comes from the state office of public defense who support her.
No she gets paid by we taxpayers. She owes us not the other way around
in fact Jane, Renee would fight extremely hard for you if you ever needed a public defender. you would get equal representation as any other . you should be grateful for that .
how would I know that? her statements suggest a bias
her clients are predominantly conservative.
Not evident from this article and her statements. I’d be worried if I couldn’t afford an attorney , and she was assigned and I had a stars and bars tattoo.
She can’t be on my side.
looks like the article was poorly researched and just a personal attack that is not fair and balanced. poor integrity and i question the ethics of the writer of this article.
As the author of this article I ask you Sandra about your ethics. Please reveal your relationship with Renee. I’m told you’re her sister, yet you haven’t revealed that in the dozens of posts you’ve made in her defense. I reached out to Renee. I would love to ask her many questions. She hasn’t responded. If hers and yours position is so virtuous let’s shine even more light on it.
i am her sister and i was told Jane is Your wife. you can question my ethics all you like. Why would Renee respond to you? that makes no sense. Why would you ask me about my ethics? Do republicans now anoint themselves ethics police to everyone who questions them? i Felt that since Your wife Jane questioned Renee’s grades( which happened to be actually quite good) that it would be fine to question. yours. If you had wanted fair and balanced , you would have talked to Renee first. I just retired as a Registered Nurse , so question my ethics all you like for disagreeing with you.
So, you want to eliminate the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech for individuals, while maintaining that freedom for the press. Or, are you also in favor of restrictions on the press–limited, of course, to opinions you disagree with? Be careful, your apparent hatred of the Constitution is showing.
Nope, she’s a government employee paid by us. We are forced to pay taxes which pays her. We deserve respect, whatever our political views may be.
do you respect all federal , state and county employees and give them respect? so are you saying trump should not speak out on social media? he spouts hate and inappropriate stuff daily, you can’t have it both ways.
they work for all of us, as a public, tax paid employee, I expect respect for people that pay your salary bringing Trump into it shows your bias
That’s not how tax dollars work… if you’re so concerned about what public servants have to say then maybe you should try being one.
Freedom of speech! , that’s what MAGA supporters proclaim whenever Trump or one of his nuts says something hateful, or spread lies. In this a way to deflect attention in Clark County away from Trumps involvement and cover up of pedophile Epstein??
I bet not a single one of her clients will have anything bad to say. My guess is that she went above and beyond even for those she may not have liked.
I fully support her right to free speech and right to privacy on social media.
She’s a public official whose paycheck is paid by taxpayers. The expectation of privacy on Facebook is laughable. A little discretion and impartiality is required.
TRUMP just said he hates Dems… look it up and tell me the same thing about him. We pay his salary too! Blue states pay for all red states. Soooo
defection,, plz go back to Cali
Get a job Jane
“TRUMP just said he hates Dems”
quick Laura, what Democrats was President Trump referring to?
FREEDON OF SPEECH! It is her social media account and done on her own time, if you don’t like it, scroll on. The President does it nonstop. Assuming many of you are ok with that.
How do you know it’s on her own time She’s a public employee. Your TDS is showing
isn’t it inappropriate to be so involved at your hubbys job? we know you are the wife of the writer of this article.
Wrong again. Jane is not my wife. We don’t even know each other.
Not the same John.
A lawyer hates a felon who breaks every law he encounters. Big whoop. Get in line
Oh! I thought freedom of speech applied to EVERYONE! 😳 Was I wrong?
Yep, if you are dissing the people who pay you. Free speech comes with consequences, especially if you are paid by taxpayers.
Oh, the irony… You see the egregious partisan meddling happening in the Supreme Court and beyond. We’re now witnessing courts across the country grappling with the fallout—reinterpreting long-established rights and injecting partisan influence into decisions that should be grounded in fairness and law.
Renee is a human who has worked tirelessly to defend the constitutional rights of all different kinds of people-and she does it lawfully, respectfully and fairly.
However, Renee is held to a different standard when she shares her personal opinions on her personal social media page. It takes someone strong to stand up to a bully and say this is not OK. Renee Alsept is a person who stands up to evil. She does not dance delicately around, pretending not to see what is happening around her.
I’ve know Renee for over 15 years. She is honorable and dedicated to justice.
Although this article is not marked as an opinion piece, it surely reads as one.
it’s definitely an opinion piece
It’s Ms. Alsept’s First (FIRST!) Amendment rights that are being questioned. And, thankfully, one of the reasons the County Commissioners are now not dealing in HR matters. Let’s say she is fired because her personal beliefs offend Mr. Medvigy’s and editor Vance’s delicate MAGA sensibilities. Does Clark County (and we the taxpayers) have enough money to pay her damages?
Yeah, her language is pretty harsh. And I personally would never say what she wrote. In public.
She has the right for her views. She can’t escape consequences.
She’s a public official whose paycheck is paid by taxpayers. The expectation of privacy on Facebook is laughable. A little discretion and impartiality is required. She is a government employee. Her pay comes from us. ‘Vantucky’ people means she doesn’t respect professional boundaries.
I don’t even know where to begin with the bizarre hypocrisy of this statement. Huh???
why did you close voting on polls so fast ? i see you shut it down, the only short time that the poll went against Renee, hmmm
Poll is not closed. You can only vote once per device.
i am aware i have only 1 vote, but some people are reporting not able to vote. i will inform them otherwise.
people are saying they can’t vote, only see results. hmm
We can’t replicate the problem. We will continue to monitor. Thanks.
If you can only view the results it likely means you’ve already voted.
If she were in private practice, instead of on the government gravy train, her employers wouldn’t put up with her dishonoring her employer.
private practice versus public defender for decades means she did not become an attorney to get rich
Perhaps she couldn’t cut it. Perhaps the lower 1/3 of her class, but passed the bar
She couldn’t cut it and is on our dime. The least we could expect is respect.
Get a job Jane or put down the pipe
that’s a weird claim . so, you despise public servants so much that you consider them ignorant? that is insulting to all public servants. Maybe the writer of this article was bottom of his class and that’s why he is writing for such small paper? lol
I’ve been a journalist since April 6, 1987. I have the best job of any journalist in Clark County. Please, have Renee contact me. I would love to put my 38 years of experience in this industry into finding out how she justifies her behavior. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean Freedom from consequences for that speech. And there is a huge difference between public and private employment. You want a fight over this? I’m standing right here? Ken.v@clarkcountytoday.com
And even though County officials can’t comment publicly, I’m quite certain there has been much conversation privately. That explains why the previously audaciosly outspoken Renee has gone radio silent! I invite her yet again to contact me at ken.v@clarkcountytoday.com
Could her reticence have anything to do with your trying to get her terminated for her exercising her First Amendment rights? US democracy has apparently moved to the deadly mutual censorship round. You’re a JOURNALIST belonging to this storied profession that prior to its monetization, championed the First Amendment. While letting us know you’re militating against her with County officials, you at least told us she’s not violating Clark County rules. I don’t agree with Alsept’s opinions as expressed here. If we give any employers the right to fire employees for exercising their free speech rights, or if employees stop exercising this right due to fear of their employer, this will not be the country you want. The elegance of the First Amendment is that we don’t have to agree on anything but each others’ Constitutional rights.
Did you just refer to the justice system as the government gravy train? Huuuh??
This is such a dumb article! Trump just said he hates democrats. How is that any different? Funny how free speech only apply to MAGA hate speech and racism and they don’t think Dems should be angry? STFU
I love how this article is advocating for censorship of free speech. From a newspaper? Your editors suck so much… can’t even write a good hit piece… such a miss from your hack clickbait journalism. With this kind of writing your paper is gonna be selling pillows and dick pills soon.
I hope Renee keeps pissing you all off and keeps posting. Yall can’t scare off or silence public servants.
She’s paid by us and has a bias.
Jane… babe that’s not how tax dollars work. Your $5/year doesn’t mean you get to control what people say on their own space and on their own time. You need a job so you can worry about other things cause gd you replied way too fast
Her comment about ‘Vantucy’ distain for people who are not like her, brings in the question of her bias. If I were a person that needed her services, living up the Gorge, I’d be worried about her.
Vantucky? Methinks thou protest too much.
For me this isn’t about Freedom of Speech. This is something else.
Any idiot voting to muzzle this person best NEVER say they support freedom of speech again. Because public servants have every bit as much right to freedom of speech as anyone else.
If she were using a government account to express her opinions, that’d be a different situation. But her personal account is nobody’s business but her own. If Trump doesn’t like it, perhaps he should change his behavior.
And if you don’t like it, try reading the 1st Amendment again.
Has anyone among you who opposes her right to express herself as she wishes EVER read the stuff Trump himself says on social media and the hate he spews?
Perhaps you’re aiming at the wrong public servant.
Your tax dollars at work. Potty mouth public defender that says 77.3 million Americans are mean, selfish, stupid and hopes they all burn in hell. Got it. Oh well, I guess she has the legal right. I hope she is never assigned to defend any of 46,628 Trump voters in Clark County. Gulp.
she has successfully defended your county citizens and even helped one man with his goal to get cleared of a crime, so he could vote. He was excited to vote for trump and she wanted to make sure he got the right to vote, because she believes in democracy.
I’ve known Renee for many years, and have always appreciated that she stands up for what she believes in- it’s probably why she is such a great public defender. To me, this is a poorly written attempt to smear the image of someone who doesn’t share the same political views as the media outlet.
She needs to go, she has broken the trust of the community she serves. As a public defender, her role is to represent people fairly and without bias. Open hostility toward any political group could be seen as evidence of personal bias, lack of professionalism, and an inability to fulfill her role ethically. Does the First Amendment protect her speech? Yes, but not absolutely, especially when she is a government employee .Her speech could be seen as disruptive to the workplace, inconsistent with her duties, or damaging to public trust.
The First Amendment protects private citizens from government censorship or punishment for their speech. However, when someone works for the government, like a public defender does, the government also has rights as an employer to discipline employees if their speech harms the public’s trust in the agency, conflicts with the duties of the job…which her social media posts clearly do. Yes, she can be reprimanded, disciplined, or even fired. This could even be brought to the State Bar to determine if this is an ethics violation