Sen. Ron Johnson Denounces ‘An American Coup Attempt’ Against President Trump

Oct. 12, 2020 (EIRNS)—On Oct. 8, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) identified and denounced what he titled “An American Coup Attempt” against President Donald Trump, and warned that there was little time to expose this before the Nov. 3 election, in an opinion piece in the Oct. 8 Wall Street Journal. Americans should heed his advice.

Senator Johnson, Chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, in his “Opinion” article warned Americans that there was little time to expose the effort to overthrow Trump, which began even before his election, by certain officials in the permanent bureaucracy. These “subordinate officials” do not see themselves as answerable to the President, Johnson writes, but have actually established a bureaucracy which is accountable to no other branch of government—and, it’s permanent.

Senator Johnson identifies the first public display of insurrection as the leaked transcripts of President Trump’s phone calls with then-Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Jan. 27, 2017, and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull the next day. Senator Johnson reports that the Trump Administration was hit with 62 leaks that may have compromised national security in its first 125 days, compared with 9 such leaks George W. Bush and 8 under Obama. In 2019 a self-styled whistleblower leaked details of President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and this fueled calls for Trump’s impeachment in December.

Johnson cites many actions against Trump by corrupt elements within the FBI and other agencies within the intelligence community using their power to sabotage the administration. One cited is the Ukraine whistleblower’s attorney, Mark Zaid, who tweeted in January 2017, “#coup has started. First of many steps. #rebellion. #impeachment will follow ultimately.” Many journalists either abetted these attempts to bring down Trump, or have remained silent. Senator Johnson praises former House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes and newly-appointed Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe for working to declassify important information.