Indivisibles,

Another week, another impeachment hearing. Here’s what we learned and had confirmed:

1. Trump abused the power of the presidency for personal gain. (Already knew that one!)
2. Trump withheld $400 million dollars in taxpayer money to force Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election.
3. Trump’s actions are a threat to our national security.
4. Trump obstructed the impeachment investigation time and time again. (#MuellerTime)

In short, Trump did it. He admitted to it. It’s time to hold him accountable for his actions. 

If there’s anything the GOP is good at, it’s peddling “alternative facts” (read: lying). So we’ve made a list of 5 GOP lies about impeachment, and what the real facts are. 

❌Lie #1: The July 25 call shows no “conditionality” -- translation: the GOP claims Trump didn’t make aid to Ukraine conditional on them investigating Biden.
✅Fact: Trump asked Ukraine for “a favor” to investigate the Bidens in response to Zelensky’s request for military assistance. Remember, all of this was detailed in the memo that the White House released. Ambassador Sondland said that there was a “quid pro quo” -- Trump intended to bribe the Ukrainians.

❌Lie #2: The Ukrainians said that they felt no pressure from Trump.
✅Fact: Of course there was pressure! Zelensky was probably being mindful of his relationship with the most powerful country in the world, but evidence shows that the Ukrainians knew the aid was being withheld and they were worried about how it would affect their fight against Russian aggression.

❌Lie #3: Ukraine didn’t know that military aid was withheld until after the July 25 call.
✅Fact: Ukraine definitely knew that military aid was being withheld, and Laura Cooper testified that Ukrainian officials reached out to her on the same day as the call.

❌Lie #4: Security assistance was released even though Ukraine never made the requested public announcement about an investigation.
✅Fact: Trump didn’t order the military aid be released until AFTER learning about the whistleblower report on his behavior. And Ukraine still hasn’t received all of the aid: Trump is still withholding $35 million in military aid.

❌Lie #5: Trump was only focused on fighting corruption in Ukraine.
✅Fact: Trump never said the word “corruption” in the July 25 call with Zelensky -- however, he did mention the Bidens several times. All the evidence suggests that Trump was only interested in one thing: Ukraine announcing investigations into his potential 2020 political rival.

One last thing -- today we learned that the Justice Department watchdog determined that the Russia probe was justified and not biased. Trump and the GOP have been claiming for years that the Russia investigation and the Mueller Report were part of a conspiracy against Trump. This report by the Inspector General says unequivocally: That is a lie.  

In the coming weeks, we can expect a vote on articles of impeachment in the House, which will push the impeachment investigation to the Senate beginning in January.

In the meantime, here are your weekly to-dos: 

 Your 5 weekly to-dos 

1. Sign up to make some calls connecting voters to 13 key senators. With impeachment hearings moving forward this week in the House, it’s critically important that we prepare for the next stage -- a fair impeachment trial in the Senate. We’ve hit 600,000 calls (!!) but we still have a ways to go to make our goal of calling one million constituents of the 13 senators who really need to hear from them. We're asking you to call voters in those states and ask them to turn up the pressure on their elected officials. It’s a simple four-part process:
   
   - You call a progressive voter in a key state with one of these 13 Republicans. These folks are your friends—they attended the Women’s March and/or fight for progressive causes.
   - You explain how they have power now. You’ll remind them why the continued fight for impeachment is so important—and why they have particular power in this moment.
   - You ask them to use their power. Then, you’ll ask them to call their senator and make their voices heard on why we’re demanding courage in this moment.
   - You push a button and connect them to their senator’s office. The call tool will allow you to automatically patch them through to the senator’s DC office.
   
   
2. Register or find a Trump is Not Above the Law Impeachment Eve event now. We need to show that there is massive public support for impeaching Trump for his crimes and abuses of power. That’s why the night before the House of Representatives takes a historic vote to impeach Trump, we'll take to the streets to declare that Nobody Is Above the Law. There are more than 265 events on the map as of now with more being added every day. Make sure to RSVP for (or host) one near you.
3. Write a letter to the editor on impeachment. This is a critical moment for our democracy -- a moment that requires us to turn up the heat on our elected officials, demand that they hold Trump accountable, and encourage others to get involved. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper and make sure your member of Congress and your neighbors know that nobody is above the law. 
4. Make a call to tell Congress to Defund Hate in the December funding bill. Congress has to fund the government by December 20 but Trump is threatening to shut the government down unless he gets massive funding increases for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). But we won’t let him distract us from his crimes and abuses of power by throwing the government into chaos -- tell your member of Congress to fund the government without any increases in funding for ICE and CBP.
5. Tell your representative to improve H.R. 3 and bring down prescription drug prices. The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3) is going to get a vote in the House this week, but there’s still time for members of Congress to improve the bill. Call your Representative today and tell them to make improvements to H.R. 3, such as ensuring that uninsured people pay lower drug prices and protecting people from drug price spikes!

 2020 Update 

It’s the last month of the year, the debate is right around the corner, and campaigns are getting more aggressive with one another as Iowa approaches. Check out the details on this week in 2020 to stay up-to-date:

• Six candidates have qualified for the December debate stage. That’s Vice President Biden, Senator Sanders, Senator Warren, Senator Klobuchar, Mayor Buttigieg, and Tom Steyer. Who’s close to reaching that stage? Sec. Castro, Sen. Booker, Rep. Gabbard, and Andrew Yang have all crossed the donor threshold but have so far not been able to meet the polling requirement (two polls at 6% in early states or four polls at 4% nationally or in early states). It’s worth noting that all of the candidates currently qualifying are white, and all those on the cusp are candidates of color. The window for qualification in the December debate closes this Thursday.
• Sen. Warren releases financial data, putting pressure on Mayor Pete. In recent weeks, Sen. Warren’s rallying calls for transparency in the primary have faced pushback from Mayor Buttigieg’s campaign, which has refused to make public information regarding his consulting work or his campaign’s large-dollar fundraising “bundlers”. Yesterday, Warren released financial records showing compensation she received for legal services provided in her previous career as a corporate lawyer. The move puts the pressure back on Mayor Buttigieg and continues the trend of pushing for a high level of transparency throughout this primary.
• It’s the last month of the quarter! As we get closer and closer to Iowa, candidates are going to be increasingly focused on showing that they can survive beyond the first-in-the-nation caucus. One measure will be their end of year fundraising, which campaigns will use to claim enthusiasm and momentum heading into 2020. This is a good time to evaluate the candidates and determine who has earned your support. As more candidates drop out of the race, the grassroots needs to stay engaged and involved to make our voices heard—and to ensure we aren’t losing essential voices from this field.

 Support our 2020 Plans 

2020 is right around the corner, and we’re busy getting ready. Our movement is engaging with the presidential election, House and Senate races nationwide, and key state-level elections. We built the Blue Wave in 2018, we won big in state races this year, and now we have a chance to do it again and have even more of an impact. A million-dollar congressional endorsements program, engagement in the presidential election, all our advocacy and organizing work -- it all depends on you. To build a self-sustaining movement and the progressive future we want to see, we rely on support from our movement. Can you make a $10 donation right now to fund all our 2020 plans?

 IndivisWin of the Week 

Indivisibles in Brooklyn had a meeting with Senator Schumer this past weekend to talk Green New Deal and ICE funding.

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team