Cease and Desist from Senator Ron Johnson?

Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin joined his other cowardly Republican cohorts last week by refusing to host the town halls that traditionally take place back in their home districts during the February recess week. That didn’t stop 500 of his constituents from hosting a town hall about the Affordable Care Act. Week after week, Wisconsin voters have showed up at Sen. Johnson’s Wisconsin offices to ask for a town hall. At least one of those constituents has reportedly received a Cease and Desist letter from Sen. Johnson’s office, telling him/her they are “not to call or visit any of Senator Johnson’s staff or any of his offices at any time.”

At this time, not all of the details are known, but Citizen Action of Wisconsin says they got a copy of the letter from the banned constituent and that the voter may speak out in a media interview. And although Sen. Johnson's Facebook page is overrun with comments wanting more info on the “Cease and Desist” letter (and asking for a town hall), the senator’s office has been mum since the copy was released.

The statement from Citizen Action of Wisconsin about the letter and their interactions with Senator Johnson’s staff:

Dear friends, many questions are coming up regarding the "Cease & Desist" letter from Sen Johnson we posted yesterday. Update for you, the individual who received the letter is being connected with media sources and may be speaking on it. An individual, not Citizen Action directly, received this letter following a series of efforts to contact his/her elected official. While Citizen Action was not present for all of this individual's interactions, he/she like many of us have called numerous times, shown up numerous times, and sought to express their opinion on issues like healthcare repeal, corruption and education. We have also heard rumors that many more are also receiving these Cease/Desist letters. Thousands of Wisconsinites like this individual have joined Citizen Action to rally, call, show up and write to Sen. Johnson; we had multiple empty-chair town halls in the last week alone, where Johnson was invited and hundreds and hundreds attended. We believe that no matter what, this letter is a heavy-handed response to a worried constituent, especially when Sen Johnson has had such little face-to-face back-and-forth interaction with constituents himself. We will not "Cease & Desist" in our response to one of the biggest bait-and-switches in American history - that of taking away our healthcare when they promised no one would be made worse off - and we urge more people to contact their Members of Congress. Democracy needs a vibrant exchanges of ideas, your voice is needed now more than ever.

Whatever happened here, Senator Johnson and his staff should comment. If the voter in question crossed the line with staff, that’s one thing. If they are simply tired of a constituent exercising their rights, that’s another.