What did Ron Johnson do? Fake Elector scandal explained 

Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson was recently accused of providing fake electors for Donald Trump on the morning of January 6, 2021, moments before the US electoral vote count panned out in Joe Biden’s favor.

As per the latest hearing of the January 6 committee, Johnson allegedly attempted to send false election documents to then-Vice President Mike Pence shortly before he began counting votes.

Earlier this week, Casey Lucier, Investigative Counsel for the House committee, elaborated on the allegations against Johnson in an eight-minute-long video and described the different instances in which he attempted to use fake electors to affect the results of the 2020 US Presidential Elections.

However, Lucier mentioned that the attempts were not considered by the White House Counsel's Office. He also cited the exchange of a series of text messages between Johnson and Pence’s respective aides to back up the allegations.

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A look into Ron Johnson’s Fake Electors controversy

Ron Johnson's spokesperson denied the senator's involvement in the 2021 fake electors scandal (Image via Getty Images)

The January 6 House Select Committee recently claimed that Senator Ron Johnson attempted to organize a handoff of fake Trump electors to former Vice President Mike Pence on January 6, 2021, before Congress approved the 2020 electors and ruled the decision of the presidency in Joe Biden’s favor.

The committee alleged that Johnson’s top aide, Sean Riley, contacted Pence’s legislative director, Chris Hodgson, via text message and said that the senator needed to “hand something to the VPOTUS.”

Upon being questioned, Riley replied that the document contained a list of fake electors from Michigan and Wisconsin that Pence could introduce during the counting of votes before the decision resulted in Biden’s victory. The message read:

“Alternate slate of electors from MI and WI because archivist didn't receive them.”

Shortly after receiving the text, Pence's aide directed Riley not to send the document to the-then vice president.

Another series of messages assigned to Wisconsin Republican Party Executive Director Mark Jefferson on January 4 hinted at Trump campaign officials allegedly attempting to fly fake electors to Washington before January 6. Jefferson wrote:

“Freaking Trump idiots want someone to fly original elector papers to the Senate President.”

The revelation of Johnson’s fake elector controversy came after Trump and his supporters denied Biden’s presidential win and attempted to overturn the election results.

Although Ron Johnson did not join the 139 Republicans who voted to upload Trump’s claims, he hosted a hearing in December 2020 where Trump supporters promoted their conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

Prior to the latest controversy, Johnson was sued for alleged insurrection and conspiracy against Biden in March 2021. He was accused of “undermining the results of the 2020 election,” which is considered a violation of the Disqualification Clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.

As Johnson’s fake elector scandal came to light, his spokesperson Alexa Henning took to Twitter to share that the senator was not involved in the process of creating fake electors and had no prior knowledge of the document delivered to their office:

Ron Johnson also echoed similar statements while speaking to CNN and said he had “no idea” about the alternate slate of electors:

“I was aware that we got this package and that somebody wanted us to deliver it, so we reached out to Pence’s office.”

Meanwhile, Chair of the Committee Bennie Thompson told the publication that authorities are yet to reach out to Johnson about his involvement in the fake elector controversy. It was also mentioned that the “committee hasn’t made a decision” on whether to ask the senator to testify regarding the situation.