Sen. Ron Johnson Wanted to Hand Deliver Fake Electors to Pence on Jan. 6

Secretary Of State Blinken Testifies Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee – Credit: Bonnie Cash-Pool/Getty Images

The Jan. 6 committee revealed on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump was “directly” involved in the illegal campaign to fabricate phony slates of electors in key swing states. So too was Rudy Giuliani. So too was John Eastman, who wrote the “coup memo” instructing former Vice President Mike Pence to stop the certification of the Electoral College. So too, apparently, was Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) — so much so that he wanted to subvert the will of his state’s own voters and hand-deliver fraudulent Wisconsin electors to Pence on Jan. 6.

The committee displayed a text message from one of Johnson’s staffers, sent just minutes before Pence was set to certify the election, stating that the senator wanted to give Pence the fake electors from Wisconsin and Michigan. “Do not give that to him,” replied one of Pence’s staffers.

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The committee also revealed on Tuesday that the Trump campaign was involved in the effort to transport the fake slates of electors from the states to Washington, D.C.; that Eastman asked the Republican National Committee to assist in the scheme; and that the White House counsel’s office informed key players like Giuliani and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that the scheme was not legally sound. They proceeded with it anyway.

The fake electors scheme involved Trump and his team working to get allies in swing states won by President Biden to fabricate slates of electors declaring Trump the winner, and for Pence to cite these slates of electors as justification for blocking the certification on Jan. 6. Rep. Adam Schiff noted at the top of the hearing on Thursday that federal district Judge David Carter has argued that Trump and others “violated multiple federal laws by engaging in this scheme, including conspiracy to defraud the United States.”

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Johnson, who is up for reelection this year, may have a little legal exposure, as well.

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