After Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) was spotted walking with right-wing troll and Holocaust denier Chuck Johnson in the Capitol, the congressman is denying that he knows anything about Johnson’s “previous associations.”
Huffington Post reporter Matt Fuller first posted a photo of the two with Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) on Wednesday.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but is that Chuck C. Johnson walking with Reps. Phil Roe and Andy Harris?
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 16, 2019
Both waited for him to get through security. pic.twitter.com/ybfdK8Bwqy
In a statement to Talking Points Memo, Harris’ office confirmed that he took a meeting with Johnson, but that he didn’t know his views, saying they discussed “genetic sequencing.”
“I am unaware of his previous associations, but we had a discussion involving his business with genetic sequencing,” a statement from Harris’ office read. “Of course I disavow and condemn white supremacy and anti-Semitism.”
Johnson, who attended the State of the Union last year with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl.), was permanently banned from Twitter for threatening to “take out” Black Lives Matter organizer DeRay Mckessson. In a Reddit AMA, Johnson questioned the Holocaust; he also has associations with the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer, according to the Daily Beast.
Johnson’s presence in the Capitol comes just after the House voted to reprimand Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) over his comments about white supremacy. Both Roe and Harris voted in favor of the measure condemning white supremacy.