Tiffany Pushed Election Lies, Report Notes

Social media posts from Wisconsin Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany are included in a report of more than 120 congressional Republicans who joined former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election.

The report, released by Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, lists the public statements between Election Day and Jan. 31 of every Republican who voted to overturn the election results. The report doesn’t say what Lofgren believes should happen to these members, though does bring up the process for expulsion from Congress for potential violations of the 14th Amendment.

The 14th Amendment ensures that every person born in the United States is granted citizenship. It also allows for any elected official to be expelled for engaging in “insurrection or rebellion” against the country.

“Like former President Trump, any elected Member of Congress who aided and abetted the insurrection or incited the attack seriously threatened our democratic government,” Lofgren writes in her foreword. “They would have betrayed their oath of office and would be implicated in the same constitutional provision cited in the Article of Impeachment. That provision prohibits any person who has previously taken an oath as a member of Congress to support the Constitution but subsequently engaged in insurrection or rebellion from serving in Congress.”

Tiffany is the only member of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation mentioned in Lofgren’s report despite Rep. Scott Fitzgerald also joining the effort to overturn the election. Fitzgerald was just days into his term and the report only includes members already in office when January began.

The report reveals Tiffany was agitating for the lie that the election was stolen while votes were still being counted. On Nov. 6, the day before cable networks would declare Joe Biden the winner, Tiffany tweeted about alleged irregularities and fraud.

“Americans want a transparent process that counts every legally cast ballot,” he tweeted, insinuating a large amount of illegal ballots were found during a ballot-counting process that wasn’t open to the public and often livestreamed.

Tiffany, who was elected last May in a special election to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Sean Duffy, tweeted five more times through November and December about protecting election “integrity.” During the time period that these tweets were made, dozens of state and federal courts found no evidence of fraud.

On Jan. 5, Tiffany announced he’d be objecting to the certification of the election results.

“Failing to address these irregularities and violations, we risk further degrading public trust in our democratic institutions — and that is something no American can afford to let happen,” he wrote on Facebook.

The next day, a violent mob — believing the lies spread by Tiffany, among others, that the election was fraudulent — stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop the certification of the results.

In the days after the attack, Tiffany did not accept any responsibility for his role in spreading the lie that brought hundreds to D.C. In an email newsletter sent Jan. 8, he continued to claim there were “irregularities” in the election. On Jan. 9, he appeared at a closed-door rally in Wausau where he said he didn’t believe Trump had any role in inciting the insurrection and stood by as a right wing radio host called for “war.”

Reprinted with permission of Wisconsin Examiner.