Representative Dan Johnson, a Republican Kentucky state lawmaker and pastor, known as "the Pope," was in trouble after a story came out revealing decades of lies and malfeasance, including an accused sexual assault. He committed suicide on Wednesday, just two days after it was published.
Long a controversial figure—during his 2016 election campaign, he compared President Obama and his wife to apes and chimpanzees on Facebook—Johnson was the subject of a lengthy and devastating investigative report, months in the making and released Monday by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting.
The report revealed that Johnson's claims to have been chaplain to the White House, help set up "safe zones" in Los Angeles during the Rodney King riots, and set up a morgue near the collapsed World Trade Center in the aftermath of 9/11 were all lies. It mentioned the time he had burned his own car to collect insurance money, and the time he likely burned down his own church, which was drowning in debt. It talked about how his church engaged in unlicensed alcohol sales, including to minors. And, most devastatingly, it mentioned a police report filed by a then-17-year-old girl accusing Johnson of sexual abuse. She accused him of groping her, and penetrating her with his finger. The police opened an investigation, but closed it without charges.
The day after the report's release, Johnson was on the defensive. He accused political opponents of being behind the investigation.
"This allegation concerning this young girl absolutely has no merit," he said. "As a matter of fact, some of this I heard yesterday for the first time as I read the story."
On Wednesday night, Johnson posted a now-deleted message to his Facebook page:
Johnson then drove to a bridge in Mt. Washington, and apparently shot himself. The coroner has ruled it a "probable suicide." Police, alerted by friends and family of Johnson concerned by the social media message, then found his body.
Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin and other officials responded to the news of his death.
The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting shared its own statement and mentioned repeated attempts to try to talk to Johnson for the story, but were always rebuffed.
