Friend,

Today is historic. I joined the majority of the House in voting for a new phase of the impeachment process: public hearings making the case to impeach Donald Trump.

This is a turning point. This is how past presidential impeachment processes have shifted public opinion and political will. Now, every member of Congress must reckon in public with the evidence we’ve been gathering about Trump’s impeachable offenses.

As our Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today, “What is at stake in all of this is nothing less than our democracy.”

Republicans have been trying to spin the narrative by turning words and their meanings upside-down—calling this process to protect our democracy and our Constitution a “coup” and “unpatriotic.” But the public has seen through these lies.

The American people want to see this impeachment inquiry continue, and we’re making that happen. Despite Trump’s attempts to undermine and obstruct the process (which are in themselves impeachable offenses), we are moving forward together.

Next steps include some Representatives continuing to investigate key players during next week’s congressional recess. Then, when we return from recess, public hearings of essential witnesses will begin in earnest. Through various House committees, we’re going to make the case to the American people about why Trump should be impeached.

And as this process becomes more public, our Republican colleagues will be forced to wake up and realize it is time for them to put their country and the safety of the American people before their party. They’ll feel more pressure to acknowledge that they don't work for this president; they work for the United States government and for the people who elected them.

And here’s where you come in: We’ve gotten where we are because of the massive public support and demonstrations for impeachment. We need that to continue.

For example, the movement for impeachment is now calling to expand articles of impeachment beyond the Ukraine scandal, including his racist abuses of power. Trump’s illegal extortion of Ukraine for his own gain is outrageous, and it defies our basic democratic principles of free and fair elections. But there’s so much more.

I sit on the House Oversight Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, and we’ve been investigating Trump’s corruption, conflicts of interest, and other violations of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clauses. We’ve been holding members of his Cabinet in contempt for not complying with congressional subpoenas, which is another way Trump has been violating a fundamental piece of our democracy: co-equal branches of government.

This won't be the last crooked CEO that runs for President of the United States, so we have to send a message by holding Trump accountable for all of his abuses of power. He has brought unprecedented corporate greed to the Oval Office, and has violated his responsibility to serve the American public. Instead, he only acts to serve himself. He’s trying to run our country like a business and a dictatorship.

His corruption extends to his bigotry, as well. For example, the same companies that donated to his Inauguration Committee are now making profits off of detaining children in cages at the border. His inhumane treatment of immigrants, and his attempts to foment violence against entire groups of people, violate our Constitution in multiple ways.

Other ways he abuses his power for his own gain and subverts our democracy? Directing law enforcement to investigate and prosecute his political adversaries and critics. Undermining the freedom of the press. These are all impeachable offenses.

In this process, we must not only make the fullest possible case for impeachment. We must also stake out moral and political values that will get us closer to finally delivering the promise of our democracy, to every person who calls the United States home.

As the grassroots impeachment group By the People says: “Impeachment is about more than Trump—it’s about demanding a government that represents all of us rather than the interests of the wealthy few.”

Thank you for fighting for justice for all. I’ll keep you posted about this process, and I encourage you to continue the fight.

Always serving you,

Rashida