On Sunday’s broadcast of ABC’s “This Week,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-CA) accused the media and Democrats of “carrying the water for this false Russia hoax,” referring to claims Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.

Guest host Martha Raddatz asked, “Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking of Russia, dismissed the impeachment case against President Trump accusing Democrats of using absolutely invented reasons to try to remove him. This comes on the heels of a Washington Post story that says, many of Trump’s advisers think Putin himself helped spur the idea that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 election. Saying after meeting privately in July 17 with Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 Summit in Hamburg, Trump insisted that Ukraine worked to defeat him. One former senior White House official said Trump even stated so explicitly at one point saying, he knew Ukraine was the real culprit because ‘Putin told me.’ What is your reaction to that? Do you have concerns that Putin is influencing President Trump’s opinion on Ukraine?”

Johnson said, “I have no doubt that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. My committee held hearings two years before that about Russia’s interference in the European elections. They basically tried to form a coup in Montenegro. So this is what Russia does. We need to anticipate it. We need to do everything we can to guard against it.”

Raddatz interjected, “Is President Trump guarding against that?”

Johnson said, “Listen, after 2016, we’re doing Putin’s work for him. Democrats and the media were carrying the water for this false Russia hoax. Look at the disruption. Look at how distracted we all are based on a completely false narrative of Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia.”

He added, “There are serious questions about some actors with the DNC working with people in Ukraine. There are many unanswered questions. They are legitimate questions. I’m trying to get to the bottom of those things, so the American public knows. If there was wrongdoing, they need to know that. If there was no wrongdoing, we need to know that as well.”

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