Weeks before the Jan. 6, 2021 uprising, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) Held an election fraud hearing in an attempt to legitimize former President Donald Trump’s false allegations of voting irregularities. Four days before the Capitol attack, Johnson signed a statement with nine other Republican senators that they intended to oppose Joe Biden’s voter certification and demand an “urgent 10-day election”. This week, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol Uprising revealed that Johnson’s chief of staff tried to hand over to Vice President Mike Pence a plaque of pro-Trump voters, raising questions about Reb’s role. Wisconsin on a deliberate and coordinated foreclosure plan. Win Biden and give Trump the presidency. The revelation also underscores the extent of Johnson’s role as one of the most prominent deniers of the January 6 congressional election and his apology – spreading conspiracy theories about fraudulent ballots and reducing the severity of the violent Capitol attack. peaceful “. idea that it may have been an inside job of the FBI. Johnson, who is running for re-election this year, has suffered scandals and controversial statements since aligning himself with Trump. He has spread false rumors about the coronavirus, has been accused of racism because he said he would be worried if Black Lives Matter protesters flooded the Capitol on Jan. 6 instead of supporters mainly of White Trump, and opened fire on taxpayers’ funds for aviation taxpayers. and his home in Florida. Some Democrats and politicians say this latest revelation of direct text messages between Johnson and Pence staff on Jan. 6 could affect voters in a battlefield state where elections are narrowly won. “What happened in the last 24 hours is different. “It’s one thing to formulate political positions outside the wall, it’s another to possibly help in a coup attempt,” said Kenneth R. Meyer, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Johnson’s potential Democratic opponents – the Wisconsin primary is in August – immediately attacked him, claiming the texts provided tangible evidence to voters that Johnson was part of an effort to nullify the votes of thousands of Wisconsin residents. A poll released Wednesday by Marquette Law School, but conducted before the latest revelations, showed that Johnson lags behind three of his four potential opponents with single-digit percentages. Senate Democratic nominee Tom Nelson, who had previously pushed for the Jan. 6 committee to summon Johnson, called on the senator to resign Wednesday. “Today’s revelations go beyond anything I could have imagined how far Ron Johnson would go to overturn our election result in Wisconsin. “Not only will Johnson have to resign and take the oath, but all the signs show evidence of a crime that the US Department of Justice is obliged to investigate.” Wisconsin Lt. Mandela Barnes, who is also a candidate in the Democratic Senate primary, called on Johnson to “resign immediately.” “Ron Johnson has actively sought to undermine this democracy. He literally tried to give Mike Pence fake ballots. “Once again, Ron Johnson has proven to be a threat to our country and our fundamental rights,” Barnes said in a statement. “Ron Johnson is a troublemaker and a threat to democracy,” wrote Alex Lasry, another Senate candidate, on Twitter. Sarah Godlewski, Wisconsin treasurer and another Democrat seeking to challenge Johnson, called him “a threat to our democracy and a disgrace to our state.” Johnson’s spokeswoman Alexa Henning dismissed the criticism. “The Democratic senator’s opponents are always trying new ways to avoid talking about their disastrous democratic policies,” he said. “The senator never considered resigning as a result of dozens of false attacks that have already been made against him. “Why would this absurd attack be different?” Henning did not answer specific questions about the text messages or Johnson’s knowledge of the fake ballot papers. Johnson has denied involvement in a plot to oust Trump’s fake voters. A written message from Johnson’s chief of staff, Sean Riley, to Pence’s aide, Chris Hodgson, and sent a few minutes before the joint congressional hearing to confirm Biden’s victory, said: “Johnson must to give something to VPOTUS, please let it know “. “What is this?” Hodgson replies. “Alternative voter plaque for MI and WI because the archivist did not receive them,” Riley wrote. “Do not give him that,” Hodgson replies. Johnson told reporters Tuesday that a member of parliament, “a staff member”, had brought the file to his office and said it had to be handed over to the vice president. Johnson claims that his office tried to make the transfer, but the vice president’s staff rejected it and that was the total involvement of his staff. “I had no hand in that,” Johnson said. “This is a completely non-story.” Johnson acknowledged that he “knew we had received something he wanted to deliver to the vice president,” but said he did not know who handed it over or what it was. He said his chief of staff “did the right thing” by offering the documents to the vice president. Johnson later left the Capitol, followed by reporters asking him about the text messages. Johnson held his phone to his ear and said he was on call, but a reporter challenged the senator, saying he could see the screen and knew Johnson was not talking to anyone. “The bottom line is that Johnson is not a fool – he had to know what the context was at the time, what was happening on January 6, what was going on at home. “It’s far below the Stop the Steal,” said Charlie Sykes, a prominent former Republican who has long opposed Trump. Sykes, who lives in Wisconsin, said the “very specific, easy-to-understand” picture of the text messages from Johnson’s staff to the vice president’s office referring to alternate voters is trying to overturn the election in an abstract sense. something tangible. The Jan. 6 commission unpacked some other details about how the Wisconsin plan came about. Andrew Heath, the former chairman of the Wisconsin GOP, has signed that he is a fake voter for Trump. In testimony to the commission, Heath said he believed Trump’s electoral platform would only be used if the Trump campaign overcame its legal challenges. “I was told that these would only count if a court ruled in our favor,” he said. Otherwise, “We would use our voters in ways they did not tell us and we would not have supported,” Heath said in a clip that was shown during the audition. A packet scanner indicates that the certificate package was mailed to Wisconsin on Dec. 16 but was not accepted by a National Archives official in Washington until the morning of Jan. 4. Later that day, Mark Jefferson, executive director of The Wisconsin Republicans, sent a message to someone: “They will call one of us to tell us what the hell is going on.” Heath and Jefferson did not respond to requests for comment. Jeffrey Mandell, Wisconsin’s attorney in a lawsuit filed against Trump’s fake voters in the state in May, said many holes remain in the timetable, including who from the Trump campaign was in contact with Heath and Jefferson Plaston and documents in Johnson’s office. Mandell pointed out that the cover included with the alternative voter ballot sent to Washington was on the official letterhead of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Mandel said that while many questions remain, what the commission implies for Johnson is the confirmation of the senator’s role in trying to overthrow the 2020 election. “We have known for a long time that he was a supporter of the ‘big lie’ and was willing to say and do anything to promote this ‘big lie’,” Mandell said. He continued to make waffles and for the most part continued to entertain the “big lie” and support these conspiracy theorists. “It’s not a big surprise, but there is something very grim in the image of Senator Johnson trying to physically carry these documents to Pence in broad daylight, on the floor of the Senate, at the crucial moment, just before Congress begins counting votes.” Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.
