House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is currently repeating President Donald Trump‘s claims that the reported Russian interference with the U.S. 2016 presidential election to favor Trump was a “hoax,” despite supporting evidence that has been systematically reviewed by intelligence agencies, lawmakers and Department of Justice lawyers.
[Supporting Trump’s hoax claim, his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, released documents last week accusing former President Barack Obama and his staff of “manufacturing intelligence” to suggest Russia attempted to influence the results of the 2016 election.]
U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) is adding fire to his ongoing feud with Johnson by bringing proverbial “receipts” to the Speaker’s new stance on the “Russian hoax.”
Massie provided a link to a 2017 article filed by the Associated Press which reported that during the first Trump administration, the House voted 419-3 to approve legislation to impose new sanctions on Russia in response to its interference in the 2016 presidential election. Johnson was one of the 419 who voted in favor. Massie was one of the three who opposed the legislation.
Mike Johnson voted in 2017 to punish Russia with sanctions for meddling in the 2016 elections. @SpeakerJohnson now calls 2016 Russian election interference a hoax.
I was one of a few Representatives to vote against the bill. @RandPaul voted against the same bill in the Senate. https://t.co/27hKRqDlx8
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) July 29, 2025
Massie wrote this week: “@SpeakerJohnson now calls 2016 Russian election interference a hoax. I was one of a few Representatives to vote against the bill. @RandPaul voted against the same bill in the Senate.”
[Note: In the Senate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also voted against the bill, which also included sanctions on Iran and North Korea.]
Massie added to his receipts pile concerning Johnson’s changing stance: “Seven years ago, I wrote this article about the Russia election interference hoax, ‘Most importantly, all indictments fail to allege that a single U.S. vote was changed.’ Why did @SpeakerJohnson take 7 years to care about this? What’s he doing about it?”
Seven years ago, I wrote this article about the Russia election interference hoax, “Most importantly, all indictments fail to allege that a single U.S. vote was changed.”
Why did @SpeakerJohnson take 7 years to care about this? What’s he doing about it?https://t.co/dZzfioASfU
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) July 29, 2025
NOTE: Massie’s claim that no votes were “changed” considers a different definition of Russian interference than what was commonly alleged by U.S. intelligence, which described an impactful online propaganda, disinformation, and influence campaign.
Then-Senator Marco Rubio, now U.S. Secretary of State, said at the time concerning the Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election: “I don’t just believe it. I know it.”
Marco Rubio on Russian interference in the 2016 election: “Russia most certainly tried to interfere in our election…They may have had a preference for Donald Trump, but I don’t think they thought he was going to win.” pic.twitter.com/UfDiKGrdx7
— Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) July 26, 2025