A campaign to impeach President Donald Trump has sent thousands of Democratic, independent and third-party candidates running in the 2018 midterm elections a guide on his impeachable offenses—because Democratic leaders won't.
Since Friday, The Need to Impeach campaign has mailed more than 5,100 impeachment guides to federal and state candidates as a "resource to help inform you about the steps we must take to remove one of the gravest dangers our country has ever confronted."
"As a candidate seeking elected office, it is important for you to understand this subject, which is too often misunderstood," the guide read. "Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to our country, and his actions have already superseded the threshold for impeachment as originally conceived by our nation's Founding Fathers."
The campaign has obtained signatures from more than 5.1 million Americans, who are calling on Congress to begin proceedings to remove Trump. Lead strategist Kevin Mack told Newsweek that the effort started because "Democratic leaders in Congress are not going to provide this kind of information" to candidates.
"The Democratic establishment would rather focus on other issues but we think it is one of the most important issues out there, so we're just in a different place than they are," Mack said.
Two forced votes by Democratic Representative Al Green of Texas to start proceedings on impeaching Trump—the most recent in January—failed by large margins. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Minority Whip Steny Hoyer have opposed pursuing impeachment, awaiting results from special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into possible Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election.
The guide includes a history of impeachment and reasons that Need to Impeach supporters believe Trump should be removed from office, including alleged obstruction of justice for firing FBI Director James Comey.
On the 150th anniversary of Johnson’s impeachment, it is time to take stock of where we are with Trump and for our leaders in office to put our country, and everyone in it, first. https://t.co/JpwadPghRF pic.twitter.com/O0CzkH2v5u
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) February 24, 2018
"It's important that candidates running for office this year understand the history, justification, and steps involved in the impeachment process," campaign founder and major Democratic donor Tom Steyer said in a statement. "Our guide will prepare candidates to engage in meaningful conversations with constituents about the dangers Trump poses to the country, and to take action as soon as they enter office."
Regarding why the guide is not being mailed to GOP candidates, Mack said the answer was obvious. Zero Republicans voted to impeach Trump in Green's forced votes.
"Republicans are not going to support impeaching their own president, at least at this stage, so we wanted to make sure Democrats have the information they need to hold this president accountable," Mack said. "If there's Republicans out there who need an impeachment guide, we'd be happy to send it to them."
