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'I'm target number one: Republican Ron Johnson whines that he’s the real victim in Washington attack
March 04, 2021
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is whining that he's under attack because both sides of the aisle are calling out the lies about the 2020 election, CNN.com reported Thursday.
Democratic officials, Republican officials, the FBI, former Trump officials at the Department of Homeland Security, top military in the D.C. National Guard and the Army, a slate of police, and those at the rally dispute the conspiracy theories being spread about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
<p>According to Johnson, it was really just Antifa dressed up like Trump supporters. He also disputed that it was an "armed insurrection" because <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/ron-johnson-not-armed-insurection/" target="_blank">he didn't see any people with any firearms,</a> despite photos and videos. Another conspiracy he proposed was that <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/insurrection-2650399038/" target="_blank">Speaker Nancy Pelosi was to blame</a> for the attack on the Capitol because there <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/nancy-pelosi-impeachment/" target="_blank">wasn't adequate security </a>at the Capitol. </p><p>Johnson has no proof for any of his conspiracies, nor does he have any military or police and law enforcement who can back him up. When faced with questions about the evidence against his conspiracies, <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/ron-johnson-2650825369/" target="_blank">Johnson gave a jumbled response</a>. So, now he's turning to tell the public that he's the real victim. </p><p>"I think it's obvious that I'm target number one here," Johnson said. "People are out to destroy me."</p><p>Johnson like many Republicans is supportive of former President Donald Trump, but unlike some of his GOP colleagues, Johnson has developed a knack for fact-free conspiracies that have drawn ire from both sides. </p><p>Speaking to MSNBC's Katy Tur on Thursday, Republican former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) was concerned that <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/republicans-making-money-big-lie/" target="_blank">Johnson has a "brain cell issue."</a> A former Democratic Congressman called <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/ron-johnson-2650551025/" target="_blank">Johnson "incredibly stupid."</a> </p><p><span></span>"I think there are some real issues that have not been answered and I think these are legitimate concerns about the election," Johnson told CNN. "I'm not afraid of the truth, okay?"</p><p>He went on to say he doesn't understand why his critics and media are pushing "false headlines, putting words in my mouth, assigning me motives that I don't have." </p><p>"If anything it makes me feistier," Johnson claimed. <br/></p><p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/04/politics/ron-johnson-wisconsin-republican-stimulus-debate/index.html" target="_blank">Read the full interview with CNN.com.</a></p>
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Olivia Troye, who worked as homeland security, counterterrorism and coronavirus adviser to Vice President Pence for two years, penned a op-ed in The Bulwark, asking, "Does Mike Pence have a death wish?"
"Not two months have passed since an armed, violent mob stormed the Capitol chanting 'hang Mike Pence,' erected a gallows, and forced the Secret Service to rush the then-vice president to safety, all because he had refused to overturn the 2020 election," Troye writes.
<p>Troye cites a <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2021/03/03/election-integrity-is-a-national-imperative/" target="_blank">recent op-ed</a> Pence published in the Daily Signal, where he gave a nod to Donald Trump's voter fraud conspiracy theories -- "the exact lies and conspiracy theories that motivated his would-be murderers," Troye writes. </p><p>According to Troye, Pence never actually states the "clear implication" of his op-ed, instead, "he wallows in the vagaries of 'significant voting irregularities' and 'integrity,' surely knowing that the people who believe the Big Lie about the election will assume he's talking about how <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/dec/03/facebook-posts/no-hugo-chavezs-family-does-not-own-dominion-votin/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hugo Chávez</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/22/business/dominion-voting-systems-sues-mypillow-ceo/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dominion</a> conspired to overturn a <a href="https://www.fox13now.com/news/national-news/twitter-facebook-remove-trump-video-amid-capitol-violence" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">landslide victory</a>."</p><p>"Trying to understand what Pence must be thinking is like cleaning out a septic tank by hand. And it has to be done in the same way: bit by noxious bit," she writes. </p><p>Read the full op-ed over at <a href="https://thebulwark.com/mike-pence-cant-walk-away-from-the-big-lie/" target="_blank">The Bulwark</a>. </p>
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Feds investigating communications between insurrectionists and GOP members of Congress: CNN
March 04, 2021
Republican members of Congress are facing scrutiny for their communications with the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6th in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
"Federal investigators are examining records of communications between members of Congress and the pro-Trump mob that attacked the US Capitol, as the investigation moves closer to exploring whether lawmakers wittingly or unwittingly helped the insurrectionists," CNN reported Thursday, citing "a US official briefed on the matter."
<p>"The data gathered so far includes indications of contact with lawmakers in the days around January 6, as well as communications between alleged rioters discussing their associations with members of Congress, the official said. The existence of such communications doesn't necessarily indicate wrongdoing by lawmakers and investigators aren't yet targeting members of Congress in the investigation, the official noted. Should investigators find probable cause that lawmakers or their staffs possibly aided the insurrectionists, they could seek warrants to obtain the content of the communications. There's no indication they've taken such a step at this point," CNN noted.</p><p>The official told CNN the Department of Justice has assigned more than two dozen prosecutors to investigate the complex issues the insurrection.</p><p>Read the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/04/politics/capitol-riot-investigation-lawmakers/index.html" target="_blank">full report</a>.</p>
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