Watch Senator Ron Johnson admit involvement in Jan. 6 fake electors plan to overturn 2020 election

Aysha Qamar

Daily Kos Staff

Monday August 22, 2022 · 2:57 PM PDT

2022/08/22 · 14:57

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 25: Senator Ron Johnson (R-W.I.) speaks during a U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing regarding wages at large corporations on Capitol Hill, February 25, 2021 in Washington, DC. The committee is looking at why many low-wage workers in America qualify for public benefits even though thousands of them are employees of large corporations. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

TAGS

Edit Tags

Tag History

Done Editing Tags

Ron Johnson is quickly putting himself in danger for this year’s election. From spreading 2020 election propaganda to circulating misinformation about COVID-19, he has now made headlines for claiming his involvement in the Jan. 6 plot to overtake the 2020 election by submitting slates of fake electors to Congress only lasted “a couple seconds.”

The comments came in an interview with ABC News affiliate WISN-TV 12 News while Johnson was on the campaign trail this weekend to hold his Wisconsin seat. When asked if he would testify to the Jan. 6 select committee if called to do so, he replied: “No. I had nothing to do with 6 January. What would they ask me to testify about?”

Campaign Action

The interviewer then pressed him on the scheme to give then-Vice President Mike Pence fake slates of electors from crucial swing states, including Wisconsin, during the certification. While Johnson dismissed the idea that he had anything to do with this plot as a “grotesque distortion,” he did seem to confirm that he was briefly involved.

“I had nothing to do with the alternate slate,” Johnson said. “I had no idea that anybody was going to ask me to deliver those. My involvement in the attempt to deliver spanned the course of a couple seconds.

“I think I fielded three texts and sent two and talked to my chief of staff that somebody wants you to deliver something.’’ He added: "Yeah, I knew nothing about it. And in the end, those electors were not delivered because we found out from the vice president's staff they didn't want them delivered. End of story."

While Republicans try to overturn elections and make it harder to vote, volunteer to help save democracy by encouraging people to cast their ballots. Click here to view hundreds of local and national Get Out the Vote opportunities on the Daily Kos Mobilize feed, and sign up to volunteer on a national campaign or one near you.

Ron Johnson won't testify to the Jan. 6 Committee because he only plotted to overthrow the election for "a couple seconds."

"I had virtually no involvement!" he said. "Literally, my involvement lasted seconds. OK?" pic.twitter.com/vsTZSCqkYj
— David Edwards (@DavidEdwards) August 21, 2022

The questions follow the Jan. 6 select committee hearings in which screened texts showing Johnson’s chief of staff, Sean Riley, texting one of Pence’s senior staff that “Johnson needs to hand something to VPOTUS,” specifying that the “something” in question is “Alternate slate of electors for MI and WI because archivist didn’t receive them.”

When approached by reporters asking questions about these texts after the hearing, Johnson initially pretended to be on the phone, but then claimed no involvement.

“I was aware that we got something delivered that wanted to be delivered to the VP, I mean guys this, this took place in, I don’t know, the span of a few minutes. And the story ended. There’s nothing to this.”

According to Business Insider, Johnson also claimed he got the fake electors from the office of Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.

Text messages showing that Ron Johnson wanted to hand deliver fake electors to Pence pic.twitter.com/irycfliZlG
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 21, 2022

In addition to admitting his involvement in schemes to overturn the election, Johnson also told WISN-TV 12 that he believes a bill protecting the right to marriage equality is “completely unnecessary.”

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) tells WISN-TV that a bill to protect same-sex marriage is "completely unnecessary" because "the decision on gay marriage will never be overturned" and precedent is "decisive."

He says it differs from Dobbs because "it would impact millions of people." pic.twitter.com/0IG2VKsZxQ
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) August 22, 2022

Johnson’s ratings are dropping and we are here for it. It’ll be some exciting news when he is out of the Senate.

Watch Senator Ron Johnson admit involvement in Jan. 6 fake electors plan to overturn 2020 election

Comments are closed on this story.