Dear MoveOn member,
The dam has finally broken. Over the past 24 hours, dozens of members of Congress have announced their support for impeaching Donald Trump, and this afternoon House Speaker Nancy Pelosi finally announced the framework of an official impeachment inquiry.1
Here's the problem: Congress is about to go on a two-week recess, and we cannot afford to lose momentum, which means we need to act right now.
MoveOn is launching an emergency fundraising drive right now. We need to raise $250,000 in the next 72 hours to fund a campaign to push so that every single Democrat comes out in support of impeachment by Friday. Eddie, can you rush $3 right now to help us meet our goal?
The need to impeach Trump has been clear for a long time—MoveOn called for his impeachment over two years ago—so what has changed over the past few days to open the floodgates? News reports have mounted suggesting that Trump withheld nearly $400 million in congressionally authorized military aid to the nation of Ukraine in an effort to force their government to aid Trump's re-election effort and attack his political opponents.2
The details of Trump's attempted blackmail are so flagrant that they deserve a thorough examination. Here is what we know:
- Earlier this month, news broke that a whistleblower in the intelligence community had initiated the official process to lodge a complaint they believed met the standard of violating either the law or constitution, and the Intelligence Inspector General agreed that this complaint rose to the level of "credible and urgent," a legal standard that requires the complaint to be given to Congress within 7 days.3
- Instead of following the law, the acting Director of National Intelligence informed Attorney General William Barr, and together they refused to give any details of the complaint to Congress.4
- Thanks to dogged reporting, we now know that the information the whistleblower shared was that Donald Trump withheld nearly $400 million in congressionally authorized military aid to Ukraine in an attempt to force their government to investigate sham accusations of wrongdoing against the Biden family—all as part of an effort to influence the 2020 election and boost Trump's chances for re-election.5,6,7,8
That's right: These reports say that Trump used the power of the presidency to withhold aid meant to stop Russian incursions into Ukraine in an effort to force a foreign government to interfere in our elections—and then suppressed the turnover of whistleblower documents required by the law.
This is not only an earth-shattering level of corruption, it is also the textbook definition of an impeachable offense, and it has finally forced Democrats off the sidelines and into the fray.
Now, we must do everything we can to support the impeachment process in the House. That's why MoveOn is holding a major event in Washington, D.C. this week, flooding Congress with calls, running ads, and gearing up for a huge national week of action in districts across the country next week to ensure that impeachment moves forward without any delay.
Chip in $3 right now to our emergency 72-hour campaign to fuel the impeachment efforts in Congress.
MoveOn has already been leading in this fight. We called for Trump's impeachment back in 2017, and just last month we led "Impeachment August," holding events and calling on lawmakers to take a stand—which led to the most new support for impeachment from members of Congress in a single month since the start of Trump's presidency. Now that Congress is finally poised to take definitive action, we will continue to pound the drum for impeachment by driving calls to members of Congress who remain silent, hosting events in D.C. and around the country, running digital ads, and more.
At the same time, MoveOn is getting ready to announce our 2020 plans. This could be the biggest year in our 20-year history—and we will be holding Mitch McConnell and other Republicans like Susan Collins who have aided and abetted Trump's schemes accountable.
Thanks for all you do.
–David, Ann, Katie, Reggie, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Nancy Pelosi Announces Formal Impeachment Inquiry of Trump," The New York Times, September 24, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/94201?t=5&akid=246666%2E10220574%2EkSntxc
2."Trump Said to Have Frozen Aid to Ukraine Before Call With Its Leader," The New York Times, September 23, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/94205?t=7&akid=246666%2E10220574%2EkSntxc
3. "Trumpcast," Slate, September 20, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/94202?t=9&akid=246666%2E10220574%2EkSntxc
4. Ibid.
5. "Trump suggests he mentioned Biden in phone call with Ukrainian president," The Washington Post, September 22, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/94203?t=11&akid=246666%2E10220574%2EkSntxc
6. "Trump Repeatedly Pressed Ukraine President to Investigate Biden's Son," The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/94204?t=13&akid=246666%2E10220574%2EkSntxc
7. "Trump Said to Have Frozen Aid to Ukraine Before Call With Its Leader," The New York Times, September 23, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/94205?t=15&akid=246666%2E10220574%2EkSntxc
https://act.moveon.org/go/94206?t=17&akid=246666%2E10220574%2EkSntxc
Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back towards sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?
Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.
Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Eddie Alfaro on September 25, 2019. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. If you'd like to receive less frequent emails from MoveOn, you can click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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