In an 11-page letter sent on Monday, August 10, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin vigorously defended his Ukraine-related investigations. The Republican senator has denied that any of his investigations have been used to promote Russian government disinformation, but legal experts Ryan Goodman and Asha Rangappa — in an article published by Just Security on August 11 — argue that Johnson has often promoted Russian talking points.
In the letter, Johnson wrote, “It is neither me, (Senate Finance Committee) Chairman (Chuck) Grassley, nor our committees that are being used to disseminate Russian disinformation.” But according to Goodman and Rangappa, “Fellow Republican senators — including the previous and current chairs of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sens. Richard Burr and Marco Rubio — have warned Senators Johnson and Chuck Grassley that their Ukraine investigations could aid the Kremlin. Johnson and Grassley appear committed to going further down that path regardless, taking some of their Republican colleagues down with him.”
According to Goodman and Rangappa, “There are three channels of Russian disinformation that have apparently affected Sen. Johnson’s Ukraine-related investigations.” And those channels are “Russian-linked Ukrainian operatives communicating directly with Sen. Johnson and his staff” and “Russian-linked Ukrainian operatives spreading disinformation via media outlets, which have been picked up and expressly relied upon by Sen. Johnson” as well as “Russian-linked Ukrainian operatives providing information via Team (Rudy) Giuliani.” Continue reading.