Ron Johnson says secret tapes would be troubling as GOP base gathers

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sen. Ron Johnson has issues with the lack of information surrounding the Senate's health care bill.

WISCONSIN DELLS – U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Saturday he would be troubled if President Donald Trump had taped his FBI director but also raised the prospect that the top law enforcement official may have made secret recordings.

“That’d be troubling, sure,” Johnson said of the notion that Trump had recorded James Comey, the FBI director Trump fired Tuesday.

Johnson made his comments to reporters at the Chula Vista Resort, where he was chairing the state GOP convention. There, Republicans celebrated their 2016 victories and cheered on Gov. Scott Walker as he laid the groundwork to run for a third term.

Johnson called the idea that Trump had recorded Comey hypothetical, claiming that Trump in a tweet had “said that Comey had better not have recorded him.”

When a reporter noted that others have interpreted Trump's tweet to mean that the president may have recorded the conversation, Johnson replied: “I don’t want to keep talking about hypotheticals and other suspicions. Let’s wait for the Senate Intelligence Committee to complete their work (on Russian interference with the 2016 election) and then see if there is then further action required ..."

In his Twitter post on Friday, Trump wrote, “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!”

Johnson said it was "way too early to say" whether a special prosecutor should be named to lead the investigation into Russia.

Republicans used their convention to revel in last year's election, in which Johnson won a second term and Wisconsin went for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time since 1984. But party officials also warned that next year’s election will be tough as they seek to keep the governor’s office and defeat Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

“2018 will be a dogfight,” said Brad Courtney, chairman of the party.

“We need to work especially hard to beat the resistance,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).

In his speech, Walker rallied the GOP base by arguing Wisconsin has reached new heights because Republicans have controlled the state for the past six years.

"Under Republican leadership, Wisconsin is a top 10 state," he said, citing the state's ACT scores, high school graduation rate, the percentage of people in the workforce and ranking for reducing the tax burden.

Walker addressed the crowd a day after all but announcing he would seek re-election next year by releasing excerpts from his convention speech and naming longtime confidant Joe Fadness as his campaign manager.

Walker came onto the stage to John Fogerty's "Center Field," with its chorus of "I'm ready to play today."

Walker echoed the song's sentiment, telling the crowd he is "ready to help lead Wisconsin for four more years." He received a sustained standing ovation.

Walker has said he won't make a formal announcement until after work on the state budget is completed this summer.

Several potential challengers have ruled out running against Walker, but the Democratic Party is building a grassroots movement to take on the governor, said a statement from Democratic Party Chairwoman Martha Laning.

"In 2018, we will have a choice to make: stick to the status quo of pitting the ultra rich against the rest of us, or vote for real change in the way we operate our government," her statement said.

In his speech, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville touted the recently passed House legislation to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Republicans should remain committed to replacing that law even as Democrats try to use the legislation against them, he said.

“Ignore all the blowback that you see on TV on Obamacare,” Ryan said. “Obamacare is a failing, collapsing law. You just need to know this. We made good on our word (to repeal it).”

He promised big fights this summer over tax reform and building a wall along the border with Mexico.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman of Glenbeulah, speaking via video, also stressed the need to build a border wall, arguing that illegal immigrants were costing taxpayers by committing crimes and receiving free health care.

“We can’t afford not to build a wall,” he said.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, said Grothman was promoting ignorance and should know that people illegally living in the United States do not qualify for public benefits.

"It really is fanning the flames of white nationalism and I think we're living in dangerous times," she said.