Jan. 6 Panel Releases Incomplete Texts to Suggest Sen. Ron Johnson Was Involved in Electoral Conspiracy

The Jan. 6 Committee in a recent release tried to discredit Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) by unveiling text messages purportedly showing that the Wisconsin Republican was part of a multifaceted conspiracy to hand a false electoral slate for Michigan and Wisconsin to Vice President Mike Pence.

Specifically, the Jan. 6 panel suggested that Johnson’s chief of staff, in communication with a top Pence aide, had plotted to hand Pence an alternate slate of electors for President Donald Trump to be read in Congress on Jan. 6, when Congress convened to certify the reported results of the 2020 election.

However, this narrative is far from the reality.

After the story hit headlines, Johnson released the full text messages, showing that the Jan. 6 panel, as it has done in the past, had been selective about which text messages it revealed.

According to interviews and testimony, the Trump campaign team had undertaken an effort behind the scenes to recruit alternative electors who would switch their vote from Biden to Trump amid ongoing contentions over election fraud.

On Jan. 6, a Trump campaign official reached out to Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) to ask him to relay one such alternative slate of electors for the states of Michigan and Wisconsin to Pence just hours before the certification of the results was set to happen.

Kelly reached out to James Troupis, a Pennsylvania lawyer, to relay the request.

The Text Messages

At 11:36 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, Troupis texted Johnson: “Need to get a document on Wisconsin electors to you [to hand to] the VP immediately. Is there a staff person I can talk to immediately. Thanks, Jim T.”

Johnson, who was unclear about what was going on, asked his chief of staff, Sean Riley, to untangle the situation.

Riley proceeded to reach out to Chris Hodgson,