Stunning new poll (impeachment)

Dear MoveOn member,

It's day 5 of the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump, and there's not a single ad on TV right now 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.¹

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.² Yes, 69% of Republicans agree! Rachel Maddow called the results "stunning."³

It would take only four Republican senators to join with the Democrats to turn McConnell's kangaroo court into a fair trial that can uncover the full extent of Trump's transgressions.

We urgently need to turn up the heat. There are 11 impeachment ads running on TV right now, and all 11 support Trump. There's not 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?"⁴

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 MoveOn members chipped in an incredible $300,000 in the last 36 hours. But it's very expensive to run TV ads, and we need to raise another $200,000 by Monday to place the ads in time for the planned Senate vote on whether to hear from witnesses, which is likely to take place late next week.

Will you make an emergency donation of $3 right now to help us run hard-hitting impeachment ads on TV in key states?

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.⁵

Trump bragged about it, saying, "[H]onestly, we have all the material. They don't have the material."⁶

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 need to raise another $200,000 by Monday 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?

Yes, I'll chip in now.

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=4&akid=255534%2E3735812%2EsKZNxT

2. "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=6&akid=255534%2E3735812%2EsKZNxT

3. "Impeachment trial may be headed for a classification showdown," The Rachel Maddow Show, January 22, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/115840?t=8&akid=255534%2E3735812%2EsKZNxT

4. "Why aren't Democrats making life miserable for vulnerable Republicans on impeachment?" NBC News, January 21, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/115838?t=10&akid=255534%2E3735812%2EsKZNxT

5. "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=12&akid=255534%2E3735812%2EsKZNxT

6. 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.

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