Republican Sen. Ron Johnson tried to get the alternate electors from Michigan and Wisconsin to vote for him.
A bunch of text messages were revealed by the January 6 committee.
In a text to Johnson's chief of staff, Chris Hodgson said to not give that to him.
A series of text messages were first displayed by the January 6 committee.
Michigan and Wisconsin were two Midwestern states that Joe Biden narrowly lost in the presidential election.
Sean Riley, Johnson's chief of staff, wrote to VP OTUS at 12:32pm on January 6, 2021.
Chris Hodgson, a legislative aide to the vice president, asked what it was.
Riley said there was an alternate slate of elector for the two states.
Do not give that to him.
According to an investigative counsel for the January 6 committee, the vice president's aide told them not to deliver the fake votes. Despite the fake elector slates being transmitted to Congress and the executive branch, the vice president held firm in his position that his role was to count electoral votes.
The vice president's role in the election certification process as the ceremonial responsibility to count all certified state votes unless any of them were blocked by Congress made him powerless to introduce electoral states that weren't certified by a state.
—January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 21, 2022
Johnson was part of a group of Republican senators who decided not to object to the election results on January 6.
"In light of events, there's a little bit of a different attitude," he said at the time.
Johnson directed Insider to a message from his deputy chief of staff.
The senator had no knowledge that the alternate slate of electors would be delivered to our office. She wrote that this was a staff to staff swap. The Vice President's office received a call from the Chief of Staff. We didn't give it to the Vice President because he didn't want it. No further action was taken. It's over.
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