Vice President JD Vance said he would meet with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson in Washington, D.C., after receiving a letter from the Democratic mayor slamming the Trump administration’s ongoing federal probe of the 2020 presidential election and offering to talk with Vance during his stop in Wisconsin’s largest city.
“I did get the letter from the mayor of Milwaukee, and he wants to meet, and he’s welcome to come to Washington, D.C.,” Vance said in response to a reporter’s question. “I’ll sit down and meet with him. We don’t have time to meet with him today, because we have to get back to Washington, but I’m happy to meet with him.”
Johnson’s letter criticized recent federal investigation into the 2020 election.
“Federal law enforcement agents, deployed at the direction of the President’s administration, have been present in my city, interviewing election officials,” Johnson wrote in his July 7 letter to the Republican vice president. “I know of no justification for this activity. Evidence of wrongdoing is entirely absent.”
He added that Vance should “see our election operation, to talk to officials who conduct our elections, and scrutinize, firsthand, the extensive security and accuracy in place.”
Of Johnson, Vance said during his trip to Milwaukee, “it was a little bit of ‘he doth protest too much.'”
He said it reminded him of his “mischievous” 6-year-old son.
“I get home and my 6-year-old greets me … and says, ‘Daddy, I’m glad you’re home. I didn’t steal any of the cookies,'” he said.
“Well, of course, he stole the cookies,” Vance added. “So, when I hear a guy protesting out of nowhere, ‘I did not do any election fraud! I did not do any election fraud!’ It makes me wonder, why is that guy protesting so aggressively?”
Johnson responded by saying that Vance “and his political accomplices continue to raise false claims regarding election integrity. Rather than addressing the real questions, the Vice President digresses into stories about his child.”
Johnson added, “So, I’ll ask again, what evidence is there of voter fraud in Milwaukee? Without any rational basis, why are FBI agents knocking on doors, intimidating current and former election officials? With no credible evidence of voter fraud, why is President Trump’s Administration undermining America’s faith in elections? These are questions that deserve answers, not glib brush-offs.”
The mayor said he would be in Washington, D.C., the week of September 21 and looks forward to engaging with Vance during his trip.
Their exchange comes as the Federal Bureau of Investigation has sought interviews with a host of Milwaukee election officials and staff who helped administer the 2020 election at a time the Trump administration is relitigating his 2020 loss in key battleground states.
Joe Biden defeated Trump by about 21,000 votes in Wisconsin – a result that has been confirmed by lawsuits, recounts paid for by Trump, audits, and election reviews. Still, Trump contends his loss was a result of widespread voter fraud that has, so far, not been proven to be true.
The Journal Sentinel first reported that the FBI was investigating Wisconsin’s 2020 election and that an agent had spoken with the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s deputy administrator, Robert Kehoe.
Agents also sought to question one of Milwaukee County’s top election officials at her home and reached out to at least two people who helped administer Milwaukee’s 2020 election.
At least two police officers were interviewed last month, sources with knowledge of the interviews told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. None of the officers interviewed is under investigation, the sources said.
The FBI’s investigation is in a preliminary phase, and no ballots have been seized in Wisconsin, sources have told the Journal Sentinel.
The Wisconsin probe comes after federal officials in January seized hundreds of boxes of ballots related to the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, and after the FBI issued a grand jury subpoena in March for voting information in Maricopa County, Arizona.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Cavalier Johnson, JD Vance clash on FBI 2020 election probe
Reporting by Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
