Sen. Ron Johnson Defends Raising Claims ‘Fake Trump Protesters’ Planned the Capitol Riot

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) is defending raising claims that “provocateurs” and “fake Trump protesters” planned the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

During an interview with The New York Times, Johnson was asked about a piece from The Federalist he read from during a recent Senate hearing focused on the days leading up to the riots.

“I think it’s important, if we’re going to really get the whole truth, to understand exactly what happened, we need to look at different vantage points, different perspectives,” Johnson said.

He argued the author of the piece, J Michael Waller, looked like “he had a pretty good background.”

“So he seemed to be a knowledgeable observer,” Johnson said. He called Waller’s piece “kind of an unblemished accounting.”

Johnson continued, “I’m not saying you accept everything. You don’t necessarily accept his conclusions. I think you kind of have to take at face value what he said he saw.”

The lawmaker was asked how he could give “an audience” to Waller’s claims there were either “provocateurs” or “fake Trump supporters” in the crowd when there is no evidence that it is true.

“I’m not questioning his veracity. I believe he’s probably telling the truth. That’s what he saw. I’m not agreeing with any conclusions,” Johnson explained.

He added, “I’m not sure he’s really making too many conclusions, other than he concluded he saw four individual types of groups that stood out from the crowd.”