Mar—There are currently 12 television ads on the airwaves about impeachment. Want to know how many supported Donald Trump's conviction and removal until today? Zero.1
That's right. More than a week into Trump's impeachment trial, every single ad hitting TV audiences about impeachment has been paid for by Trump supporters. But we're going to change that. Over the last five days, more than 27,000 MoveOn members have chipped in so that we can buy time to run our ads on television targeting GOP senators who are most likely to break away from Trump.
We've almost raised what we need to run impeachment TV ads, thanks to the generous support of more than 27,000 MoveOn members in the past five days. But we're still $100,000 short.
Can you chip in $3 now, so that we can get our ads on television tomorrow?
For more details on this campaign, see our recent email below:
Dear MoveOn member,
Today is day six of the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump, and for the past week there has not been a single ad on TV putting pressure on the Republican senators most likely to break with Mitch McConnell to force witnesses to be called and for the White House to hand over documents related to the Ukraine scandal.2
Yet a new poll shows that about 72% of Americans agree that the trial "should allow witnesses with firsthand knowledge of the impeachment charges to testify," including 69% of Republicans.3 Yes, 69% of Republicans agree! Rachel Maddow called the results "stunning."4
And just last night, news broke that John Bolton has confirmed in his forthcoming book that Trump said explicitly that the aid to Ukraine would remain frozen until Ukraine announced investigations into the Bidens, and that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Attorney General William Barr, and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney were also in on the scheme.5
It would take only four Republican senators to join with the Democrats to turn Mitch McConnell's kangaroo court into a fair trial that can uncover the full extent of Trump's transgressions, and these John Bolton bombshells make it more likely than ever that some Republicans will break away.
We urgently need to turn up the heat, Mar. There has not yet been a single ad targeting Republican senators to demand a fair trial and hold Trump accountable, causing Chuck Todd of "Meet the Press" to ask, "Why aren't Democrats making life miserable for vulnerable Republicans on impeachment?"6
MoveOn's Creative Lab, which has created powerful ads seen by millions of Americans, has swung into action to produce hard-hitting ads and start to get them up on TV in the states with senators we can influence, after more than 27,000 MoveOn members chipped in to help fill the void in the last three days. But it's very expensive to run TV ads. We still need to raise $100,000 to get an expanded TV ad buy on the air in the key states and keep it going through the planned Senate vote on whether to hear from witnesses, which is likely to take place late this week.
The second article of Trump's impeachment is for obstructing Congress: covering up witnesses and withholding documents from the American people.
Trump has blocked his closest aides from testifying and has refused to hand over a single document—a single email, text message, letter, phone transcript ... any document—related to the Ukraine scandal.
All 53 Republican senators actively participated in the cover-up last Tuesday night, voting 10 separate times to block subpoenas for Trump administration witnesses and documents, and to otherwise rig the trial rules.7
Trump bragged about it, saying, "[H]onestly, we have all the material. They don't have the material."8
But McConnell was forced to agree to a Senate vote on whether to hear from witnesses after the opening arguments and senators' questions—which means that we have a narrow window of time to increase pressure on the Republican senators who have been wavering.
We have organizers on the ground in the states of key senators and are lighting up the Senate switchboard with phone calls, but it's not enough. We still need to raise $100,000 to get our hard-hitting impeachment ads up on TV in the key states. And we need your help to do it.
Will you rush an urgent donation of $3 to help us run hard-hitting impeachment ads on TV in key states?
Together, we can hold Trump accountable. But it's going to take each and every one of us.
Thanks for all you do.
–David, Ann, Schuyler, Isbah, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Why aren't Democrats making life miserable for vulnerable Republicans on impeachment?" NBC News, January 21, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/115838?t=5&akid=255721%2E10220574%2EIkE1K8
2. Ibid.
3. "Let them speak: Most Americans want witnesses in Trump impeachment trial - Reuters/Ipsos poll," Reuters, January 22, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/115839?t=7&akid=255721%2E10220574%2EIkE1K8
4. "Impeachment trial may be headed for a classification showdown," The Rachel Maddow Show, January 22, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/115840?t=9&akid=255721%2E10220574%2EIkE1K8
5. "John Bolton's bombshell gives the GOP a glimpse of its nightmare scenario," The Washington Post, January 27, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/115874?t=11&akid=255721%2E10220574%2EIkE1K8
6. "Why aren't Democrats making life miserable for vulnerable Republicans on impeachment?" NBC News, January 21, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/115838?t=13&akid=255721%2E10220574%2EIkE1K8
7. "After Republican senators block new impeachment evidence, Trump boasts about what he's withholding," The Washington Post, January 22, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/115841?t=15&akid=255721%2E10220574%2EIkE1K8
8. Ibid.
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 toward 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 Mar Alfaro on January 28, 2020. 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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