Dear fellow MoveOn member,

Now that Democrats are in power, I've got an idea: Let's defund Donald
Trump's presidential pension and divert the funds to reunite migrant
children with their parents.

Trump is no longer the president, and I say that we treat him as though he
never was. No $200,000 pension. No million-dollar travel budget. No
national security briefings. No respect. Not for someone who led a white
supremacist insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, did everything he could to
attack Black and brown communities, and trampled on our democratic values.

But we can't stop at holding only Trump accountable. We also need to hold
accountable Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert,
and all other right-wing members of Congress who helped incite a deadly,
white supremacist attack on our Capitol and our democracy.

Which is why my friends at MoveOn—the biggest progressive advocacy
organization in the country—are leading a huge, all-hands-on-deck campaign
to demand that Trump be convicted in his Senate impeachment trial and
banned from seeking federal office again, and that the seditionist members
of Congress be immediately removed from office.



Folks at MoveOn have just shown me their campaign plans, and I'm
impressed, which is why I'm writing to you with a personal request: Will
you chip in $5 a month to power MoveOn's ambitious campaign
to hold Trump and the GOP traitors in Congress accountable? With your
help, MoveOn will be prepared to buy hard-hitting ads and billboards,
flood Congress with phone calls, and do whatever else is needed to demand
accountability for as long as it takes.

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.



John, I was greatly dismayed when I read the explosive court
filings in which federal prosecutors allege that the white supremacist mob
that stormed the Capitol aimed to "capture and assassinate elected
officials."^1

I was sickened when I read that some members of the mob even carried
nooses, bats, pipes, chemical weapons, and zip-tie handcuffs, and that
others planted bombs around Washington, D.C., in an effort to divert law
enforcement from the Capitol.^2

And I was disgusted by the video released last week in which the violent
mob clearly says they were inspired by Trump, Cruz, Hawley, and other
right-wing members of Congress. Members of the mob are heard saying:
"[Ted] Cruz would want us to do this." "We are listening to Trump." "We
are at war … traitors to the guillotine."^3

But nothing has repulsed me more than the chilling allegations that
sitting members of Congress may have actively aided and abetted the
attack. Bombshell reports allege that Republican members of Congress may
have led leaders of the white supremacist riot on "reconnaissance" tours
of the building the day before the attack, apparently to make sure that
they would know where to find the targets of their violence, including
then-Vice President Mike Pence. And there are allegations that right-wing
Representative Lauren Boebert live-tweeted Speaker Nancy Pelosi's location
and movements during the attack on Capitol Hill, in what appears to have
been an effort to help the racist mob locate her.^4,5

We simply can't let this despicable attack on our principles and one of
our most cherished democratic institutions—an attack instigated from
inside Congress—go unanswered. Which is why we absolutely must do
everything we can to ensure that any right-wing politicians who incited
racist violence are removed from office and held to account.



Will you chip in $5 a month to help power MoveOn's
nationwide, emergency campaign to demand that seditionists be removed from
Congress? MoveOn needs your help to have the consistent financial
resources to run ads, flood Congress with phone calls, deliver petitions,
and do whatever else is needed for as long as it takes to ensure
accountability.

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.



Like you, I watched the inauguration on Wednesday and felt a surge of hope
and redemption.

We witnessed our cherished tradition of the transfer of power when Joe
Biden was sworn in as president of the United States.

We saw Kamala Harris make history as the first woman, first Asian
American, and first Black person to assume the vice presidency.

We saw Trump leave office, with his tail between his legs, scurrying off
to Mar-a-Lago.

Today, Stephen Miller no longer works at the White House, and Jared
Kushner no longer has an office in the West Wing.

And Mitch McConnell is now officially the Senate MINORITY leader.

Darn, that feels good.

But while our nation came together to toss these vile figures out of
power, the harm they've inflicted remains. And the work to undo their
despicable legacy begins with ensuring that there are serious consequences
for Trump and every member of Congress who incited the white supremacist
mob to launch an attack on our Capitol that left several people dead and
many others injured.



I know that times are tough for so many right now. But if you have the
means, will you chip in $5 a month to fight white supremacy
and protect democracy?

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.



Thanks for all you do.

–Robert Reich

Sources:

1. "Capitol rioters aimed to 'capture and assassinate' officials, federal
prosecutors allege," Los Angeles Times, January 15, 2021
[link removed]

2. "Lawmakers Were Feet and Seconds Away From Confrontation With the Mob
in the Capitol," The Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2021
[link removed]

3. “A Reporter's Footage from Inside the Capitol Siege," The New Yorker,
January 17, 2021
[link removed]

4. "Lawmakers gave groups 'reconnaissance' tours of the Capitol one day
before riots, Democratic congresswoman says," The Washington Post, January
13, 2021
[link removed]

5. "A Colorado Republican tweeted about Pelosi's location during the
Capitol siege. She's now facing calls to resign," The Boston Globe,
January 12, 2021
[link removed]

 

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community worked every moment, day by
day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda 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. With a new administration in
power, we have our first chance in years to make real, progressive change.
MoveOn was built for this moment, but we need your support to make it
happen.  Will you stand with us?



Donate: [ [link removed] ]$5 monthly
Donate: [ [link removed] ]$15 monthly
Donate: [ [link removed] ]$50 monthly

[ [link removed] ]Donate another amount monthly

[ [link removed] ]Or make a one-time gift





You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]