Rachel Maddow reminded us last week that "impeachments are unpredictable". Bombshell evidence dropped "out of the sky" during Richard Nixon's impeachment, causing what had been "unimaginable defection from Richard Nixon's camp," including members of Congress who had led his defense.

Dear MoveOn member,

We did it, finally: Donald J. Trump is now the third president in U.S. history ever to be impeached. 

Together, we made yesterday's historic vote possible, John—by never accepting that a president is above the law and by pushing our elected leaders, day after day and year after year, to hold him accountable. On Tuesday night, the night before the House vote, hundreds of thousands of us were in the streets in all 50 states to demand Trump's impeachment.

We never gave up. And we can't give up defending our democracy now. The House has impeached Trump. The Senate trial is just weeks away. It's NOT over yet. Not even close.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the Senate will conduct the trial in "total coordination" with the White House.¹ But it's not just up to him. Rachel Maddow reminded us last week that "impeachments are unpredictable".² Bombshell evidence dropped "out of the sky" during Richard Nixon's impeachment, causing what had been "unimaginable defection from Richard Nixon's camp," including members of Congress who had led his defense.³ And Nixon was forced to resign.

A majority of senators need to agree on the rules for Trump's impeachment trial, and that means that only four Republican senators need to insist on a fair trial in order to put a stop to McConnell's sham trial.

MoveOn is ready to spring into action to put maximum pressure on persuadable Republican senators to agree to a fair trial. But we've been going all-out on impeachment for weeks now, and we need to sign up 5,000 weekly donors in the next 24 hours to launch billboards targeting these senators, extend the contracts of our organizers on the ground in key states, print more materials for protests and rallies outside senators' offices, and more. Will you chip in $3 a week to MoveOn's all-hands-on-deck campaign to remove Donald Trump from office—and help keep it going for as long as it takes to win? (MoveOn will bill your weekly donation to your credit card once a month starting today and will contact you shortly after Trump is no longer president to see if you want to modify or cancel your weekly donation.)

Yes, I'll chip in weekly to help keep MoveOn's impeachment campaign going for as long as it takes.

No, I'm sorry, I can't chip in weekly.

McConnell told Fox News, "Everything I do during this, I'm coordinating with the White House counsel. There will be no difference between the president's position and our position as to how to handle this to the extent that we can."⁴

The president's position has been to refuse to turn over a single relevant document and to block the most important witnesses from testifying. True to form, McConnell has already rejected Democrats' call for key White House officials to testify at the trial.⁵

But the Constitution requires that each senator take an oath to be an impartial juror at the start of a Senate impeachment trial.

And there is overwhelming and bipartisan public support for hearing from the witnesses, with 71% of Americans saying top officials should testify at a trial, including 64% of Republicans and 72% of independents, according to a new Washington Post poll.⁶

Any Republican senator who goes along with Mitch McConnell and the White House will be helping Donald Trump cover up the full extent of his Ukraine scandal. We only need to sway four Republican senators to insist on a fair trial, and we have to give it our all to make that happen. Will you help out by signing up for a $3 a week donations right now, and help sustain our campaign to remove Trump from office? (MoveOn will bill your weekly donation to your credit card once a month starting today and will contact you shortly after Trump is no longer president to see if you want to modify or cancel your weekly donation.)

Yes, I'll chip in weekly to help keep MoveOn's impeachment campaign going for as long as it takes.

No, I'm sorry, I can't chip in weekly.

With your help, we will:

• Expand our billboard campaign to build public support for impeachment. MoveOn needs your help to buy billboards in the districts of on-the-fence Republicans. Our billboards will very visibly help get the truth out about the extent of Trump's crimes—and that Republicans STILL are defending Trump, even as more and more damning evidence is exposed.
• Fully fund our team of organizers on the ground in key states. We've recruited and trained an incredible team of organizers in the key states with senators most likely to support a real trial, but we don't yet have the funding we need to pay for their salaries through a full Senate trial. This is an absolute must.
• Take on Trump's lies directly online and on TV. We don't need to counter the millions of dollars that Trump and his enablers are spending to spread lies and misinformation dollar-for-dollar—because the people are on our side. But we do need to have substantial resources to reach the activists who are ready to get involved to tell the truth and give them opportunities to act, like protesting, calling Congress, and showing up at their lawmakers' offices.
• Expand our bird-dogging operations in Washington, D.C. For months, MoveOn has been following lawmakers to ask them a simple question: Is it OK for a foreign government to interfere in our elections? Now, we must bring that pressure to on-the-fence Senate Republicans. Wherever they run and hide, we must find them. And when they try to wiggle out of answering our question, we must make sure their constituents know about it.

Please: Sign up to be weekly donor now. $3 a week, or whatever you can afford, will help us finish the job and end Donald Trump's lawless presidency. (MoveOn will bill your weekly donation to your credit card once a month starting today and will contact you shortly after Trump is no longer president to see if you want to modify or cancel your weekly donation.)

Click here to chip in weekly to help keep MoveOn's impeachment campaign going for as long as it takes.

Or, if you can't chip in weekly, then click here.

Thanks for all you do.

–David, Erica, Robert, Isbah, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "McConnell: In 'total coordination' with White House for impeachment trial," USA Today, December 12, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/114888?t=8&akid=253078%2E40999114%2EEOrorq

2. "Pam Bondi and Trump Foundation. TRANSCRIPT: 12/13/19, The Rachel Maddow Show," The Rachel Maddow Show, December 13, 2019
http://act.moveon.org/go/114891?t=10&akid=253078%2E40999114%2EEOrorq

3. Ibid.

4."McConnell: In 'total coordination' with White House for impeachment trial," USA Today, December 12, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/114888?t=12&akid=253078%2E40999114%2EEOrorq

5. "Hear No Evil," Slate, December 17, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/114889?t=14&akid=253078%2E40999114%2EEOrorq

6. "What happens next in the impeachment of President Trump?," The Washington Post, December 18, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/114890?t=16&akid=253078%2E40999114%2EEOrorq

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