Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) rebuked Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Tuesday evening for “peddling conspiracy theories” about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Johnson, in an interview this week with a conservative influencer, said he wants to hold additional hearings on the attack on the World Trade Center complex in New York City, after watching a documentary and speaking to others who doubt the government’s probe into the attack that killed nearly 3,000 people, including hundreds of first responders.
“There are a host of questions that I will be asking, quite honestly, now that my eyes have been opened up,” Johnson said.
Lawler tore into the comments, calling them “crap.”
“Respectfully, Senator Johnson should stop peddling conspiracy theories about the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history and one that forever altered the lives of so many of my fellow New Yorkers,” Lawler wrote on the social media platform X, resharing an article about Johnson’s remarks.
“Crap like this dishonors and disrespects the innocent lives lost, our brave first responders, and all families and survivors who still carry the pain of 9/11 each and every day.”
Johnson, who is in his third Senate term, chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
He said in the interview early this week that “there’s an awful lot of questions” surrounding 9/11 — particularly about the collapse of Building 7, which fell hours after terrorists crashed two commercial planes into the Twin Towers.
An investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) concluded that Building 7 progressively collapsed from a prolonged fire that couldn’t be extinguished because of water supply issues after the building sustained extensive damage. Experts have repeatedly debunked efforts to link Building 7’s fall to a controlled demolition.
Johnson’s office didn’t immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.