Dear People For the American Way supporter, The revelations this week of a lawfully-executed, evidence-based search warrant at the home of a former President – that reportedly found 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as top secret and meant to be only available in special government facilities – were yet another shocking and unprecedented development in a summer that’s already been chock-full of them. Back in February, we called for the House Oversight Committee to look into potential criminality around the 15 boxes of official presidential records that had been spirited away to Donald Trump’s Florida mansion. More than 10,000 of you wrote to your Representatives in support of that investigation (thank you!) ... and we learned this week that the Justice Department has been working on this case for months now. And yet, the Far Right continues to ignore facts and defend Trump. A conservative advocacy group that we’ve covered extensively as part of our Right Wing Watch project just launched the first tranche of a $10 million ad campaign to attack the integrity of Attorney General Merrick Garland. If the Far Right manages to gain control of one or both houses of Congress in this fall’s midterms, there’s no question they’ll move aggressively to impede, delay and de-fund investigations of potential crimes committed during the Trump Administration – and we simply cannot let that happen. We’re also staying focused on accountability for the insurrection and failed coup of January 6. While the Select Committee has paused their hearings for the summer Congressional recess, additional public hearings are set to resume in September. People For will be working to maximize the impact of these hearings on the November elections – because the more that voters understand how deeply involved Republican leaders were in planning and abetting the coup, the less likely they are to want to put them in charge in the new Congress. We’re doing that through our RightWingInsurrection.org website and toolkits, coalition work to sponsor and pass pro-democracy resolutions at the local levels, and deep-dive videos to expose the fanatical far-right groups who fomented the violent insurrection and led the charge on the Capitol building. We ask for your donations because People For the American Way counts on grassroots supporters like you for a very significant portion of our annual budget. We’ll put your contribution to good use right away educating the public, mobilizing voters, recruiting and training volunteers, and building grassroots power in key cities and regions in states with races that will determine the future of our democracy. With less than three months to go until the critical midterm elections, there’s no better time than the present to chip in and support our work to defend democracy. Thanks in advance for any support you can provide – and for everything you do to fight for the American Way. Sincerely, Ben Jealous, President P.S. This coming Thursday the 18th at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT, we’re holding a member briefing to discuss the midterms and the shifting political landscape – and you’re invited! Please click here to save your spot.
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