Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has expressed that he believes the media has either been “deceived or complicit” in Russian interference during the 2016 election.
“Honestly, I feel it’s time to tell the press the truth. I might even suggest returning Pulitzer prizes. They seem to have been misled or have conspired to promote a false narrative, which has kept America in political chaos for years,” Johnson remarked during an interview with Newsnation’s Blake Berman.
“This all stems from what Hillary Clinton did—her dirty tricks—and they had knowledge about the Steele dossier. But we used it to analyze Mueller’s investigation and scrutinize everything else,” he continued. “This is yet another instance of election interference that Russia and China have long sought to accomplish,” he added.
Last week, National Intelligence Director Tarshi Gabbard released a report alleging that officials from the Obama administration had manipulated intelligence regarding Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
In her statement, Gabbard claimed former officials were involved in a “disturbing conspiracy” and indicated her office has handed over evidence to the Department of Justice for potential criminal investigations.
This report follows a memo from President Trump earlier in March, which called for the declassification of “all files related to the Crossfire Hurricane,” tied to the FBI’s investigation of Russian interference in 2016.
Trump has consistently denied that Russia aided his campaign against Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton in 2016.
On Tuesday, former President Obama refuted claims from the Trump administration suggesting he had skewed evidence related to Russian interference during the 2016 election.
“These bizarre allegations are absurd and are simply weak efforts to divert attention,” said Obama’s spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush, in a statement to Hill’s sister network News Nation.
“The documents released last week reinforce the well-established conclusion that Russia attempted to sway the 2016 presidential election but did not manipulate the actual vote. This was confirmed in a report from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2020, which was headed by then-chairman Marco Rubio,” he added.
The Hill has reached out to the Clinton Foundation for a response.
