Ron Johnson's effort to pass false electors to Pence not a priority of Jan. 6 committee, chairman says

WASHINGTON – The select committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol isn't putting a priority on Sen. Ron Johnson's effort to hand Vice President Mike Pence false electors from Wisconsin and Michigan on Jan. 6, 2021, and has no plans to speak with the Wisconsin senator further on the matter.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee's chairman, said Tuesday evening the committee will "talk about" seeking more information from Johnson about the text exchange between Johnson's chief of staff and a Pence aide indicating the Oshkosh Republican wanted to hand Pence the false elector packets moments before Congress was set to confirm Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

"It's nothing high on our list as a committee at this point," Thompson said in an interview, adding that he believes the Department of Justice "is going to pursue a lot of the fake electors that were submitted here.”

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Thompson also told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Pennsylvania U.S. Rep Mike Kelly's name "didn’t come up" in the committee's investigation despite Johnson's claim that the false packets of electors came from Kelly's office.

“Our committee is just producing the facts, and the facts said Sen. Johnson was involved in that process," Thompson said.

Alexa Henning, a spokeswoman for Johnson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The revelatory details about Johnson's involvement in former President Donald Trump's effort to stop the certification of the 2020 election in the hours before insurrection at the U.S. Capitol came to light during a select committee hearing last month.

Sean Reilly, Johnson's chief of staff, texted Pence staffer Chris Hodgson at 12:37 p.m. that day saying, "Johnson needs to hand something to VPOTUS please advise," according to evidence presented by the committee.

"What is it?" Hodgson, a former legislative affairs director for Pence, replied.

"Alternate slate of electors for MI and WI because archivist didn't receive them," Riley wrote back.

"Do not give that to him," Hodgson said.

Johnson initially told reporters he was "basically unaware" of the effort before later saying he coordinated with Wisconsin attorney Jim Troupis and his chief of staff by text message that morning to get to Pence a document Troupis described as regarding "Wisconsin electors."

Johnson also contended in an interview on WIBA-AM that the false elector documents from Wisconsin and Michigan came from Kelly, the Pennsylvania Republican — an accusation Kelly's office immediately denied.

Johnson has maintained the packet came from Kelly's office and said he never said he spoke to Kelly. He previously called the interaction a "staff-to-staff exchange."

The Department of Justice has already taken steps to probe the false elector scheme, issuing subpoenas to people with connections to Georgia, Arizona and Michigan.

Earlier this month, key members of Trump's legal team, including Wisconsin native Kenneth Chesebro, were subpoenaed by a special grand jury in Atlanta investigating interference in the 2020 election.

The next Jan. 6 committee hearing is scheduled for next Thursday.

Contact Lawrence Andrea at landrea@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @lawrencegandrea.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson false electors not focus of Jan. 6 committee Mike Pence