U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has been implicated in the attempt to overthrow the duly elected government by putting forward a slate of fake Wisconsin electors. Evidence was presented at a congressional hearing that showed Johnson's chief of staff contacted Vice President Mike Pence's office, attempting to hand-deliver the fake elector's fraudulent documents to Pence in time for the vote to certify the election on Jan. 6, 2021. If successful, the scheme would have overturned the legal votes of millions of Wisconsinites and overthrown the duly elected government of the United States.
Johnson gave a conflicting statement when asked about his involvement, claiming he was aware his staff attempted to deliver the falsified documents, while also claiming he was unaware of the situation and not involved.
These fake electors were a core part of the attempt to overthrow the government and reinstate former President Donald Trump, despite losing the election to President Joe Biden. But is it illegal to overturn an election and effectively revoke the ability of voters to choose their political leaders? That question is at the heart of a new lawsuit from Law Forward, challenging the legality of this scheme.
"We can disagree about politics, we can disagree about policy, but fundamentally we all need to agree on the basic ground rules, which is that we're governed by elections, and the candidate who gets the most votes wins," says Jeff Mandell, lead counsel and president of Law Forward.
Lake Effect reached out to the attorney representing the fake electors to comment on the lawsuit, but have not yet received a response.
