Report: Free-spending Multimillionaire Johnson Alleged to Have Bought Convention Hotel Rooms for Endorsement Votes, Continues to Hide Personal Financial Disclosure
MADISON — U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson is facing new allegations this morning that he bought the endorsement votes of delegates at the Republican Party convention in Milwaukee in May. The charges come after Johnson failed to meet the legally-required deadline to file his personal financial disclosure with the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee.
Former Republican Senate Candidate Terrence Wall told WTDY News Director Zach Stein that Ron Johnson engineered his surprise endorsement vote, less than a week after Johnson entered the race, by using “corruption, bribery (and) coercion.”
According to the interview, Wall said one person admitted after the convention that, “His hotel was paid for by Johnson’s people if he stayed overnight and voted for Johnson.” WisPoliticsreported at the convention that the endorsement vote in the Senate race, originally scheduled for Saturday, was delayed during the middle of the convention until Sunday.
Among the other allegations, Wall also revealed that he was told ballots were stolen from him and that a Republican at the convention was “putting them in his pocket,” so the endorsement votes would not be counted.
“It’s been more than three weeks since he missed a deadline to file his personal financial disclosure and Ron Johnson, who has bragged he would spend millions of his own money to buy a Senate seat, still refuses to tell voters where the money he is spending comes from,” said Mike Tate, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin “Now Ron Johnson is facing allegations he used his fortune on a voter fraud scheme to rig his endorsement vote. These new allegations by a fellow Republican that the Johnson campaign engaged in buying votes are not only troubling, they deserve a full investigation. If the GOP really believes in the integrity of our elections, they will do nothing less than welcome such an investigation.”
