Ron Johnson denies he knew about attempted fake elector handoff despite newly released texts
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson is standing by his claims he did not know he was trying to deliver fake elector packets to Vice President Mike Pence ahead of the certification of the 2020 election despite texts released this week showing he was explicitly told the documents were about the electors.
Johnson on Thursday told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he had "no idea" the documents were false elector paperwork even as the texts, released for the first time in a tranche of court documents, reveal then-Trump campaign attorney Jim Troupis asked him to urgently deliver "a document on the Wisconsin electors" shortly before Congress convened on Jan. 6, 2021, to certify Joe Biden's election victory.
"We need to get a document on the Wisconsin electors to you for the VP immediately," Troupis wrote in one text to Johnson that morning. "Is there a staff person I can talk to immediately."
In a brief interview on the message, Johnson said he "had no idea that there was an alternate slate of electors. I had no idea. He was asking me to deliver some documents." Johnson said the "entire day was about electors" and claimed that it was not apparent to him that the document Troupis referenced was the false slate of Trump electors from the state.
Asked what else the document could have been, Johnson responded: "I couldn't have cared less. I'm asked by the attorney for the president of the United States to deliver something to the vice president on that day."
Still, other documents included in the settlement involving Troupis and former Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro related to the scheme cast doubt on that claim. In a Dec. 8, 2020, email exchange between Troupis and Chesebro about the alternate elector plot, Troupis wrote that he "spoke with Senator Johnson late last night about the Pence angle at the end."
"Just wanted to take his temperature," Troupis wrote. And in a text from Troupis to Chesebro on the morning of Jan. 6, Troupis said he had "been on the phone with (Trump campaign operative) Mike Roman and Senator Johnson's COS to get an original copy of Wi slate to VP," according to the court documents.
Taken together, the documents provide additional insight into Johnson's connection to the fake elector scheme orchestrated by Trump and his allies. The text message from Troupis is the first written confirmation the Oshkosh Republican was explicitly told the documents were about Wisconsin electors.
Correspondence previously released by the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack show Johnson connected Troupis with his chief of staff, Sean Riley, and Riley texted a Pence staff member to deliver "alternate slate of electors for MI and WI because archivist didn't receive them."
Pence ultimately did not accept the false elector packets.
Johnson over the last two years has given differing accounts of his involvement in the effort. Shortly after the select committee first released the texts from Johnson's chief of staff to a Pence aid, Johnson said he was "basically unaware" of his office's contact with Pence's team and called it a "staff-to-staff exchange."
His office later acknowledged that his staff communicated with Pennsylvania Congressman Mike Kelly "about how Kelly's office could get us the electors because they had it."
Johnson has claimed his involvement in the scheme lasted just seconds.
On Thursday, Johnson said he connected Troupis with his chief of staff but maintained his ignorance about the false slates.
"The entire day was about electors," Johnson said. "I get a text from the attorney of the president of the United States on the day we're counting electors asking, 'Senator, I need to get documents — you know, related, whatever — on Wisconsin electors to the vice president. Can you help me?' And I did. What would you do?"
"But I had no idea that there was an alternate slate of electors," he added. "None. Zero. Zip."
Johnson's reelection campaign in 2022 retained Troupis' law firm for consulting in the event a recount would be required in the race. His campaign paid Troupis a total of nearly $40,000, elections reports show.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson denies he knew of fake electors despite released texts
