Issue One joins 70 groups in urging Congress to impeach President Trump, praises corporations’ decisions to withhold campaign contributions

Issue One today joined with 70 other organizations in calling for the U.S. House of Representatives to act immediately to impeach President Trump for his role in inciting last week’s violent attack on the Capitol.

“President Trump must be removed from office immediately and prevented from ever serving in public office again. Our organizations strongly urge you to begin this process by voting to impeach President Trump as quickly as possible,” states the new letter to lawmakers, whose signatories also include the American Federation of Teachers, Common Cause, Demand Progress, Democracy 21, NAACP, Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Sierra Club.

“Assaults on our democratic republic cannot stand,” said Issue One Founder and CEO Nick Penniman. “President Trump must be held accountable for his role in manufacturing this crisis and inciting a violent mob that attempted to shut down the official work of Congress as it counted the Electoral College votes on January 6.”

This new coalition letter — which can be read online here — follows a similar letter from 24 former Republican members of Congress who urged lawmakers to “uphold the integrity of the legislative branch and protect American democracy by impeaching President Donald J. Trump.” And on Sunday, former Republican Gov. Christie Christie of New Jersey told ABC News that “if inciting to insurrection isn’t [impeachable], then I don’t really know what it is.”

Penniman also praised corporate leaders for their decisions to withhold campaign contributions from members of Congress who voted against certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win after the riot.

“In Washington, campaign cash can speak volumes. When major corporations start withholding PAC contributions, it sends a strong message,” said Penniman. 

He continued: “Business leaders should be applauded for using all the tools at their disposal to hold accountable those who attempted to overturn the will of the people. We hope companies will extend this policy to their contributions to super PACs and other outside groups supportive of these politicians as well.”