House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is facing a call to return campaign contributions from alleged fake electors who sought to overturn the 2020 presidential results in Georgia.
Campaign receipts filed with the Federal Election Commission show Johnson’s campaign committee and leadership PAC received a combined total of $21,600 from a pair of accused fake electors for both the primary and general elections in 2024. The donations have prompted some criticism among Democrats, with some even calling on the speaker to return the funds.
“After pushing conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, it’s no surprise that MAGA Mike Johnson has been caught red-handed taking thousands in contributions from false electors who attempted to undermine American democracy,” CJ Warnke, communications director of the Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC, told the Washington Examiner. “If Mike Johnson had a spine or an ounce of integrity, he would immediately return these contributions.”
The two electors Democrats are bringing attention to, Mark Hennessy and David Hanna, are central to the election interference investigation unfolding in Georgia against former President Donald Trump.
Campaign filings show that the Mike Johnson for Louisiana committee received two payments of $3,300 from Hennessy, with the address on the receipts matching the address of a Mark Hennessy who reported working at the Hennessy Cadillac in Atlanta and signed on to a certificate declaring Trump as the winner of the 2020 election.
Receipts also show that the American Revival PAC, which is Johnson’s leadership political action committee, received another $5,000 from Hennessy.
Mike Johnson for Louisiana also received $6,600 from Hanna, who also is reported to be a fake elector in the Georgia investigation. The payments were split in two $3,300 increments toward the primary and general elections. Receipts also show Hanna donated $3,400 to Johnson’s American Revival PAC.
The campaign donations by Hanna listed him as being the chairman of Atlanticus, a financial holdings company, which matches the description of the alleged fake elector, who was also the co-founder and CEO of the company until 2021.
The receipts come after Democrats have been particularly critical of Johnson and his connection to Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden, especially after Johnson assumed the speakership in October 2023. In late 2020, Johnson helped lead an amicus brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Johnson also was credited with approaching his House colleagues to vote against certifying the 2020 election on the grounds that several states changed voting procedures because of the pandemic, which he argued was unconstitutional.
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Democrats have seized on those efforts, seeking to paint Johnson as an extreme Republican who holds views that are unpopular with swing voters — hoping to use that narrative as they attempt to win control of the House next year.
The Washington Examiner contacted Johnson’s office for comment but did not receive a response.
