Ron Johnson says FBI warned him Russia could be trying to use him to spread disinformation
Patrick Marley
The FBI warned U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in August that he could be a target for Russian disinformation, but he dismissed the briefing as a political ploy, according to the senator.
Johnson, an Oshkosh Republican and loyal backer of former President Donald Trump, told the Washington Post that the FBI briefing didn't include specifics and he already knew of the threat from Russia. He said he believed he was being given the briefing so it could be used against him later.
As the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Johnson spent much of 2019 and 2020 investigating the activities of Hunter Biden, the son of now-President Joe Biden who sat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
Johnson's committee also looked into whether Ukraine had interfered in the 2016 election.
U.S. intelligence agencies determined Russia intervened in the 2016 election and spent the years afterward trying to drum up the notion that the election interference came from Ukraine, not Russia.
"Regarding reports that I received an FBI briefing warning me that I was a target of Russian disinformation, I can confirm I received such a briefing in August of 2020,” Johnson told the Post in a written statement.
"I asked the briefers what specific evidence they had regarding this warning, and they could not provide me anything other than the generalized warning. Without specific information, I felt the briefing was completely useless and unnecessary (since I was fully aware of the dangers of Russian disinformation)."
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The briefing came weeks after Democratic leaders in Congress told the FBI they feared Johnson's investigation was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
In his statement, Johnson cited the role of Democrats in explaining why he gave short shrift to the FBI briefing.
"Because there was no substance to the briefing, and because it followed the production and leaking of a false intelligence product by Democrat leaders, I suspected that the briefing was being given to be used at some future date for the purpose that it is now being used: to offer the biased media an opportunity to falsely accuse me of being a tool of Russia despite warnings," Johnson said in his statement.
Johnson spokeswoman Vanessa Ambrosini said Friday the senator had nothing to say beyond what he had said in his statement.
Johnson and his staff in 2019 met with Ukrainian diplomat Andriy Telizhenko as the senator pursued the theory that Ukraine had interfered in the 2016 election.
The U.S. State Department in January sanctioned Telizhenko and six others for attempting to undermine Biden's candidacy.
The sanctions led Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon to say Johnson's investigation of Biden was "based on Russian disinformation." Johnson has said he vetted the information Telizhenko provided before using it.
Johnson and other congressional Republicans visited Russia in the summer of 2018, prompting criticism from Democrats for spending the July 4 holiday there.
After returning, Johnson said the Republicans warned the Russians not to intervene in U.S. elections. He told the Washington Examiner that election interference was serious but “not the greatest threat to our democracy.”
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During the 2020 campaign, the FBI also planned to tell Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and the pro-Trump One America News Network that Russia could be trying to use them to spread disinformation, according to the Washington Post.
Investigators searched Giuliani's home Wednesday and seized computers and cell phones as part of their probe into his interactions with Ukraine, according to the New York Times.
Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.