Here & Now

Ron Johnson's Effort to Send False Elector Slate on Jan. 6

Frederica Freyberg:

This week the January 6th Committee investigating the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol found Wisconsin and Senator Ron Johnson figuring prominently in testimony that Donald Trump orchestrated the effort to overturn 2020 election results. The committee focused on the slate of false Republican electors from seven battleground states including Wisconsin, saying the scheme was to have Vice President Pence count their votes instead of those of the state-certified Biden electors. One exhibit showed a text message just before the vice president’s counting of votes on January 6th from Johnsons chief of staff to Pence’s staffer. It said, “Johnson needs to hand something to VPOTUS.” The Pence staffer asked, “what is it?” Johnson’s chief texted, “An alternate slate of electors for Michigan and Wisconsin,” to which Pence’s person said, “Do not give that to him.”

Ron Johnson:

This is a total partisan witch hunt.

Frederica Freyberg:

Following the committee hearing, Johnson told reporters he didn’t know about any of it. One of Wisconsins false electors, former chair of the state Republican Party, Andrew Hitt, was deposed by the committee and said he understood the GOP electors’ votes would only come into play in any of Trump’s legal challenges succeeded.

Andrew Hitt:

That would have been using our electors — well, it would have been using our electors in ways that we weren’t told about. And we wouldn’t have support it.