Why Trump Must Be Impeached and How to Pressure Pelosi!

The Democratic Party is Mine, but it isn't Perfect

If you, like me, believe in principle, and cannot support Pelosi's "not for Impeachment" position, chances are you're as frustrated as I am about how to effectively resist her decision. I'm a Democrat. I've been a Democrat for my entire adult life, but that doesn't mean I believe the Democratic party is without fault. And it certainly isn't without need for guidance by its members.

When I'm most frustrated with the Democratic party I imagine abandoning ship. But then I cool down and remember that it's far more effective to shape the Democratic party from within. As a member, I will not hesitate to raise my voice and let them know when their decisions are not in concert with my values. We are the party. Our collective values define the party's values. Sometimes though, the party officials don't understand what the collective wants or how badly they want it. It's then our responsibility to guide them. This is especially important when they take a moral position we cannot support.

I absolutely cannot support Pelosi's stance that she's "not for Impeachment" and the result, which is that our party, who we put into power with our votes, will not impeach Trump. Thus, it's my responsibility to let her know this. If you feel the same way, it's your responsibility too. Our party acts with the power we granted it with our votes. We must do our best to ensure the party is using the power in a way we collectively believe is moral and right.

Why I reject Pelosi's Position on Impeachment 

If you're as sickened by Pelosi's "not for Impeachment" statement as I was, but are unsure if you should go along with it, I'm happy to share my reasoning as to why I will not.

We have a criminal in the White House.
Ohh, let me count the ways . . .

Conspiracy to Commit Campaign Finance Violations

Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator in a conspiracy to commit campaign finance violations. He was named as Person-1 in the indictment under which Michael Cohen was charged and for which he is now going to jail. We heard Trump lie after the Stormy Daniels payments were made, saying that he knew nothing about the payments. Then a tape was released where Trump was speaking with Cohen about the best method for making the payments, before they were made, clearly proving he knew about them. We saw the actual reimbursement checks to Cohen with Trump's and Trump Jr.'s signatures on them. Some of the checks Trump signed were after his inauguration. Trump's accountant was also engaged in issuing of the checks.

I cannot emphasize this point enough; Trump literally engaged in criminal activity to hide information from us and violate our laws from the Oval Office, which we pay for with our tax dollars. That should enrage every American.

Committing Fraud

During Cohen's public testimony he testified that Trump inflated his assets when attempting to acquire bank loans and get favorable insurance rates. Cohen provided the fraudulent financial statements to Congress. Rachel Maddow showed us how one of Trump's properties was listed at over ten times what he'd previously listed it for, for tax purposes. There is also a good likelihood from Cohen's testimony and evidence that Trump committed fraud on his taxes. So that is bank, insurance, and tax fraud, all easy crimes to prove as they are document crimes.

Violating International Law and US Law at the Border

Trump has directed his administration to close off large portions of the border and to refuse entrance to Asylum seekers at some ports of entry. International law, which we have agreed to, requires that refugees be allowed to seek Asylum and have their cases heard on an individual basis. The law requires that they must be on US soil to apply for Asylum. He is preventing them from entering the border at the Ports of Entry to file for Asylum legally, then has them arrested if they cross the border elsewhere, insisting they are crossing illegally and therefore are illegal. It is lawful for them to seek Asylum from anywhere in the US, regardless of where they cross. Still, he has them arrested when they actually follow the law. Then he takes their children away from them and some have not been returned. Worse, young girls, some as young as eleven, many of whom have been raped, are denied access to abortion while in ICE custody.

Violating the Emoluments Clause

Since the day of Trump's inauguration, he has been personally benefiting from the Office of the President by having foreign dignitaries stay at his hotels. We've heard stories that he asks foreign dignitaries where they are staying when he meets with them. The message is clearly that they should answer in a way that pleases him. This seems to be, in effect, a bribe. The price of a favorable conversation with President Trump starts with supporting his hotels to his personal financial gain. He seems to be violating the emoluments clause in many other ways as well. I've provided the before mentioned as a simple example.

Conspiracy with Russia to Subvert our Democracy

We know that during the campaign Trump was negotiating for a Trump Tower Moscow, all the while lying to the American people with calls of, "No Russia! No Russia!" His campaign manager gave polling data to a Russian intelligence agent, Konstantin Klimnik, and Russian hackers then targeted portions of the electorate with fake news. Did this impact the election? There are people to this day who believe Clinton was engaged in Pizza Gate murders, so let's guess, maybe . . . YES!

On top of that we heard Trump, on national television, asking Russia for Hillary's emails. That very night Russia started hacking the DNC. Roger Stone, Trump's Senior Campaign Advisor, later bragged about meeting with Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, and the emails were subsequently released from Wikileaks. Assange is known to have close ties with Russia. Only a fool would look at those facts and not suspect a real conspiracy was afoot.

Spreading Hate Across the World

Like it or not, the world looks to us for leadership and Trump is our leader. Both the massacre of 11 Jewish Americans at the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue and the massacre of 49 Muslims at the New Zealand Christchurch mosque were inspired by Trump's hate agenda. Americans have collectively given Trump the largest bully pulpit in the world and he spreads his hate daily. Only Americans can take that power away from him and only Pelosi can start the impeachment process. If she refuses to impeach him, then she is complicit in all the horror that follows. If we remain silent and allow him to continue to abuse the power we have given him, then we are also complicit in all the horror that follows.

We gave Pelosi power with our votes. We must insist she use it well.

I Will Choose Principle over Political Capital

I will not be silent. I will not be complicit. I must absolutely reject Pelosi's "not for impeachment" position.

I understand that the Senate must approve impeachment. Many say that the Senate will never go against Trump. This is only true now because the base is so strongly for Trump. However, I do not believe all Trump supporters are aware of his criminal activities and agree with it. In fact, I think only a small portion would actually support him once the full extent of his criminality came into view.

FOX News has allowed a good portion of the electorate to stay ignorant of Trump's crimes and have shown Trump in a sympathetic light. They control the news their followers see. We need impeachment hearings because Pelosi can control those hearings and show the whole truth of his criminality through public testimony. There were those on conservative news outlets who said that Trump couldn't even survive another week like the week of Cohen's testimony. And it appears Trump has crimes coming out of his eyeballs. There is so much more to discover, if only Pelosi would hold impeachment hearings.

Yes, the Senate must vote to impeach Trump and I think once the full extent of his criminality is exposed to his base, even a majority of his base would support impeachment. The left has gone so far in repeating the whole "Republicans are evil" mantra that many of us actually believe it. Republicans are not evil. Most of them are conned, perhaps willfully so, but conned nonetheless. The harsh light of truth will undo much of that by making his criminality impossible to ignore.

You don't change from people who believe in the Rule of Law to supporting a criminal in the space of a few years. A person's basic character remains constant throughout their life. As proof of this, Paul Manafort, Trump's Campaign Manager, was pronounced guilty by a jury that included an avowed Trump supporter. She saw the facts and had to judge him on those facts. I believe many Trump supporters will respond in exactly this way.

I disagree with Pelosi that impeachment hearings are necessarily divisive. We are not impeaching Trump over a blow job. We are impeaching over Trump betraying our country and being the worst criminal politician we have ever known. Further, I don't even believe she thinks these impeachment hearings would be divisive. Already the majority disapproves of Trump. They are not going to like him better after hearing about the massive extent of his criminality. That is utter nonsense, and she knows it. What I believe she is doing is trading Principle for Political Capital, and that's just wrong.

Pelosi can turn the tide by aggressively pursuing impeachment hearings. We have more than enough reasonable suspicion of crimes, as mentioned above, to do this. She should hire a professional prosecutor and start those hearings immediately. Once the tide has changed, then she should submit articles of impeachment.

What if the tide never changes?

I don't care. I am a person of moral integrity and I will do what is right, because it is right. If the Republicans decide to hold on to their immoral position and protect Trump, then let them be the only party who is immoral. Let's give the country at least one principled party to cling to in this time of flagrant criminality and immorality. It's not okay to trade principal for political capital in the next election. Isn't that what the Republican Senators are doing now when they shelter this corrupt President? Aren't they watching out for their own hides in the next election and forsaking principle? Are we to do the same? How could we, and still respect this party? I cannot.

Instead, I will pressure my party to be principled. It is my duty as a citizen and a member of the Democratic party to shape it to adhere to my values.

How to Pressure Pelosi

We know that the most effective means of pressuring a party is to hit them where it hurts, right in their pocket. However, we don't want to cripple Democrats, or else we will be in trouble in 2020. So I'm suggesting you target the party, not your local Representatives, in this way:

Move Your Party Money

If you are currently contributing to any party organizations like the DNC or DCCC, stop those contributions now. Instead, move those contributions to the campaign of the local Democratic Representative, Senator, or Presidential Candidate you want to support. So no money to party organizations. Do give directly to the candidate.

Cancel your Party Subscriptions

If you are like me, your inbox is littered with emails from Democratic Party organizations keeping you informed and requesting contributions. Somewhere on every single email is a link to unsubscribe; usually at the bottom. Click that link on all Democratic emails except those from Representatives who directly represent your locale.

There is almost always a comment box where you can leave a comment. You can copy the comment I have used or create your own. Stating a reason for unsubscribing is very important so they know you are protesting Pelosi's position on Impeachment.

"I will NOT SUPPORT a party who leaves a CRIMINAL in the White House. He has engaged in a conspiracy to commit campaign finance violations, bank, tax, and insurance fraud, emoluments violations, violations of international law at the border, and likely conspired with Russia to subvert our democracy. He spreads his hate agenda worldwide. Pelosi must IMPEACH him!"

When I did this I received no response from the party. I did receive a response from the email of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who does not directly represent my locale, as follows:

"Thanks so much for reaching out, and for sharing your thoughts with us. This inbox is maintained by volunteers that support Alexandria's campaign team, but we’ll make sure your message gets to the right place. Thank you again for reaching out."

You can bet that as we start turning off the Party spigots, Pelosi will hear about it. Repeat this process for every single email you receive from party organizations or from representatives who do not directly represent your locale. Watch your inbox and keep doing the same thing until you have turned off all those emails. Place those emails in a folder so you can go back and sign up again when Pelosi starts impeachment hearings.

This action is targeted to the party, not the individual Democratic candidates of your locale. It will hit the Party in the money, where it hurts without undercutting the 2020 election. It will send a message that we are not going along with her immoral position and if the Party wants our support, they must seriously start impeachment hearings.

I stress, you should not stop supporting your local Democratic candidate. The 2020 vote should be a Plan B for getting Trump out of the White House. But please know, he will not peacefully transfer power, and the 2020 election will be attacked again. Trump has done nothing to protect our elections and has, in fact, cut the budget on international cyber security. If we win he will claim election fraud. We must get him out in time to secure the elections and ensure a fair and free 2020 election.

You are a citizen of the most powerful democracy on earth. Lift your voice and use your power. We must get the Criminal out of the White House.

Happy resisting!

Lisanne Lombardo
Citizen of the United States
Country before Party