"I don’t know, but I’m suspicious"

 

“Well, again, I have always believed the Russian hoax was a diversionary operation from the corruption that was occurring within certainly the FBI and potentially some of our intelligence agencies. You have to kind of ask the question, what is this impeachment all about? We now know that 45 Republican senators believe it's unconstitutional. Is this another diversionary operation? Is this meant to deflect away from potentially what the speaker knew and when she knew it? I don’t know, but I’m suspicious”- Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin)

“…Attempts to stoke conspiracy theories that Antifa was secretly behind the rally have been thoroughly debunked. But what Johnson is proposing -- if that's the word for what he's doing -- is something I haven't even heard before. And the reason I haven't heard it before is because, even when compared to other conspiracy theories floating around out there, it's just so outlandish. Pelosi pushed the impeachment of Trump to cover up her own role in the January 6 riot? What role? And when Johnson says that the impeachment trial could be aimed at deflecting ‘what the Speaker knew and when she knew it,’ what the actual hell is he talking about?

“The honest answer is not even he knows. Remember that this is the same Johnson who, back in the spring of 2020, argued that we were overblowing what the number of people dying from Covid-19 meant about the virus' impact on society. And the same Johnson who demanded that former Attorney General Bill Barr prove that there was no evidence of election fraud in the 2020 election.

“So, yeah, there's a track record here. But that doesn't excuse what Johnson is doing. This is a sitting US senator suggesting that the speaker of the House triggered an impeachment charge against the outgoing president solely to cover her tracks over…” (Chris Cillizza, CNN).