Vermont Senator, GOP Leader Implicated in Racist, Antisemitic Chat Leak on Telegram

“The hateful statements made in this group chat are disgusting and unacceptable. The vile, racist, bigoted, and antisemitic dialogue that has been reported is deeply disturbing."- Gov. Phil Scott

A sitting Vermont State Senator and his wife, a national representative for the state’s Young Republicans, have been implicated in a massive leak of private chat messages that included praise for Adolf Hitler and widespread use of racist and antisemitic slurs. Despite the revelations, which were detailed in a national exposé by Politico on October 14, 2025, there has been a conspicuous silence from the leadership of the Vermont Republican Party.

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The Vermont Connection to a National Scandal

According to reporting in both Politico and New York Magazine, State Senator Samuel Douglass (R-Orleans) and his wife, Brianna Douglass, were active participants in a private Telegram chat group named the “RESTOREYR WAR ROOM.” The group, composed of Young Republican leaders from several states, was a hotbed of extremist rhetoric.

The reporting attributes specific comments to both individuals:

• During a discussion about a mutual acquaintance who had dated an “obese Indian woman,” Senator Douglass allegedly wrote that the woman “was not Indian,” but that “She just didn’t bathe often.” The comment deploys a racist trope associating a person’s ethnicity with poor hygiene.

• In a separate message directed at her husband, Brianna Douglass, who serves as the Vermont Young Republicans’ national committeewoman, allegedly wrote that he had made a mistake in “expecting the Jew to be honest.”

Senator Douglass, one of the youngest members of the legislature, was elected in 2024. According to his official biography on the Vermont Legislature website, his professional background includes work as a crisis interventionist for Lamoille County Mental Health Services. Prior to his election, he was the chairman of the Vermont Young Republicans. Brianna Douglass’s role as national committeewoman means she is Vermont’s official representative to the Young Republican National Federation.

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“I Love Hitler”: The “WAR ROOM” Context

The Douglasses’ alleged comments were part of a much larger pattern of extremism within the “WAR ROOM” chat. The leak, which consisted of approximately 2,900 pages of messages exchanged over seven months, revealed a political subculture among emerging GOP leaders that normalized violent and hateful ideology.

According to the reports, other high-ranking Young Republicans in the chat, primarily from New York, made even more shocking statements.

• Peter Giunta, then-Chairman of the New York State Young Republicans and Chief of Staff to a New York State Assemblymember, allegedly wrote, “I love Hitler,” praised gas chambers, and used racial slurs to describe Black athletes.

• Bobby Walker, another New York Young Republican leader and a communications staffer for the New York Senate’s Republican leadership, allegedly called rape “epic” and used homophobic slurs.

The leak appears to have been a calculated political hit in a bitter power struggle for control of the Young Republican National Federation. Walker himself seemed to understand the volatile nature of their private conversations, reportedly writing, “if we ever had a leak of this chat we would be cooked.”

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A Void of Consequences

While Walker predicted the participants would be “cooked,” the political and professional fallout appears to be nonexistent. The research materials indicate that the New York-based government staffers have faced no public disciplinary action and remain employed.

More pointedly for Vermonters, there has been no discernible response within the state’s party. A review of public records and statements shows:

Neither the Vermont Republican Party nor the leadership of the Vermont State Senate has issued any public statement condemning Senator Douglass’s alleged remarks or announcing any form of censure or ethics investigation.

Governor Scott Speaks Out

Governor Phil Scott issued the following statement in response to leaked messages from leaders of a national Young Republican group chat:

“The hateful statements made in this group chat are disgusting and unacceptable. The vile, racist, bigoted, and antisemitic dialogue that has been reported is deeply disturbing. There is simply no excuse for it. Those involved should resign from their roles immediately and leave the Republican party – including Vermont State Senator Sam Douglass.”

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What This Means for Vermonters

The “RESTOREYR WAR ROOM” leak has pulled back the curtain on a disturbing element within the next generation of Republican political operatives.

For Vermonters, the story is not a distant scandal in New York; it is a local issue that raises fundamental questions about representation and accountability, one that both parties have continued to grapple with, particularly after a recent Compass Vermont report about five Vermont lawmakers accepted free, all expense paid trips to Israel to be lobbied directly by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Compass Vermont continues to follow this story.