Michael Skoler, the president of Louisville Public Media — which operates KyCIR — said in a statement Wednesday to The Post that the organization was “deeply sad” to hear about Johnson’s death and was grieving “for his family, friends, church community and constituents.”
“Our aim, as always, is to provide the public with fact-based, unbiased reporting and hold public officials accountable for their actions,” Skoler said. “As part of our process, we reached out to Representative Johnson numerous times over the course of a seven-month investigation. He declined requests to talk about our findings.”
Johnson’s wife, Rebecca, told the Associated Press in a statement Thursday that she wants to replace him in the state legislature.
Rebecca Johnson called her husband’s death a “high-tech lynching based on lies and half-truths,” the AP reported.
Paul Ham, the chairman of the Bullitt County GOP, said Thursday that “the community is not handling it very well” and slammed the KyCIR report, which he called “the catalyst that started the whole thing.”
“The story was based on hearsay: no arrest, no conviction, no jail time,” he said. “Back when the Constitution meant something, a man could stand before a jury of his peers. But now, it’s just, ‘Let’s just make some accusations and run with it.’ We’re in a very bad place.”
Following the news of Johnson’s death, another Kentucky Republican, state Rep. C. Wesley Morgan, lashed out at the media — and his own party.
Dan and I both were aware of the slanderous lies that were told about us by our very own party. And the character assassination attempts that were orchestrated by much of the news media. We will be lucky if Judge Roy Moore does not do the same. These character hit jobs must stop.
Hours later, Morgan shared the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline‘s 1-800 number, and said: “People will say and do terrible things to you in this world. But nothing is worth taking your life.”