Children as young as four months old are being separated from their parents. People are detained in “icebox” rooms for weeks at a time. Migrants are being forced to drink from toilets and are denied access to soap and toothpaste. Adults and children alike are abused at the hands of Customs and Border Protection officials.
The news reports and images from the detention centers on the southern border are not just horrifying. The actions, under the direction of President Trump, are unconstitutional and grounds for his impeachment.
Separating and detaining migrant families constitutes a violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, which protects all persons within the United States. In addition, these actions constitute cruel and unusual punishment prohibited under the Eighth Amendment.
We’re urging everyone to join Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Detention Camps on Friday, July 12 at locations across the country. Please join us in person to demand that Congress stop the cruel and inhumane practice of detaining migrants and asylum seekers!
The Mueller Report was both an impeachment referral and roadmap for Congress to begin an impeachment investigation of the president. In his report, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller presented evidence that Trump repeatedly obstructed justice and concluded that the Trump campaign took advantage of unlawful Russian assistance in the election.
The play was written by Robert Schenkkan, a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning screenwriter and playwright. The celebrity cast includes Annette Bening, Kevin Kline, John Lithgow, Frederick Weller, Ben McKenzie, Michael Shannon, Noah Emmerich, Justin Long, Jason Alexander, Gina Gershon, Wilson Cruz, Joel Grey, Alyssa Milano, Kyra Sedgwick, Alfre Woodard, Piper Perabo, Zachary Quinto, and Aidan Quinn, with Sigourney Weaver, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Mark Hamill.
Watch the powerful performance below and be sure to watch until the end of the play for a message on how we must respond to the content of the Mueller Report.
State Sen. Jo Comerford and State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa addressed more than 100 activists gathered in Northampton’s Pulaski Park for the National Day of Impeachment Action on June 15th, organized by MoveOn and By the People. Both legislators reaffirmed their support for an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump, citing the need to protect our democracy from President Trump’s consistent assaults.
“It’s not about politics,” said State Sen. Jo Comerford. “Asking Congressman Jerry Nadler of the Judiciary Committee to open up an impeachment investigation is a moral call to action to defend our democracy. And it does not matter if you are a Republican or a Democrat, it is the right thing to do.”
State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa added, “Now is the time to actually do what is hard. Because otherwise, what does the power actually mean? Why run, why serve if when you have the ability to do something, you don’t do it?”
The National Day of Impeachment Action on June 15th encompassed over 140 events in more than 100 cities nationwide. Tens of thousands of people called on Congress to begin an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump, a necessity that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly resisted. Speakers at the Northampton rally included Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts (Chair of the House Committee on Rules) and Free Speech For People President John Bonifaz.
On Saturday, June 15th, more than 13,000 Americans gathered at 142 events across the country, calling on Congress to begin an impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Free Speech For People was proud to partner with MoveOn and By the People for this historic event, the largest national mobilization for impeachment to date.
Free Speech for People President John Bonifaz addressed more than 100 people in Northampton’s Pulaski Park, saying, “We refuse to be silent. We refuse to walk away. We will rise to demand that members of Congress carry out their Constitutional duty and start an impeachment inquiry of this President.”
Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, who chairs the House Committee on Rules, also addressed the crowd in Northampton: “I’ve seen enough. I’ve seen the Mueller report, this administration is not complying with requests. If we turn a blind eye to him ignoring Congress, we set a terrible precedent.”
Rep. McGovern addresses the crowd in Northampton, MA
Meanwhile in Boston, Free Speech For People’s Board Chair Ben Clements told protesters on the Common, “This is how autocracies take root. This is how democracies die…Our country cannot afford to wait. We will not sit idly by while a corrupt, lawless, racist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic, bigoted, unfit President tramples on our Constitution and our people.”
Sixty-seven members of Congress have now voiced public support for an impeachment inquiry to date, and thirteen have become co-sponsors of a House resolution to start such an inquiry, introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Rep. Al Green (D-TX) in March. Many were in attendance at events around the country on Saturday, including Rep. Tlaib in Detroit, Rep. Green in Houston, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) in Portland, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) in New York City, and Rep. Madeleine Dean, Rep Mary Gay Scanlon, and Rep. Brendan Boyle in Philadelphia. A recent Reuters poll found that 45 percent of Americans support impeachment, compared to 42 percent opposed. The percentage in favor of impeachment is significantly higher than it was when Congress began an impeachment inquiry into Richard Nixon.
MoveOn and By the People will hold an organizing call on next steps for the impeachment movement on Tuesday, June 18th at 8:30 PM EST. To RSVP, visit www.impeachmentguide.com. Representatives Al Green, Jamie Raskin, and Rashida Tlaib will all be featured speakers on the call.
We hope you can join us next Saturday, June 15, for a national day of action to demand an impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump. This is your opportunity to get involved directly in the fight to hold the president accountable to the law!
As more members of Congress join the call for an impeachment inquiry, it is clear that we have the power to appeal to our elected officials and to help turn the tide on impeachment. On the national day of action, individuals across the country will come together for family-friendly, public gatherings to demonstrate to their representatives that we, the people demand action.
The momentum is continuing to build – on this day of action, we hope to achieve the largest number of individual gatherings in support of impeachment. There are currently over 78 events throughout the country!
Free Speech For People joined more than two dozen groups in issuing an open letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, demanding that she take action and move to start an impeachment investigation of Donald Trump.
The letter addresses Speaker Pelosi’s reluctance to use her power to hold Trump accountable for his numerous constitutional violations:
As Speaker of the House, you have the power to ensure Congress exercises its constitutional obligation to hold this president accountable, but instead of using your power, you are giving us political excuses for why you shouldn’t. Instead of leading, you and your colleagues have asked us to wait – wait for the Mueller report, wait for the unredacted Mueller report, wait for Mueller’s testimony about the Mueller report, wait for more investigations, wait for bipartisan consensus, wait for impeachment to poll better, wait for the 2020 election.
But we can’t wait any longer. While we wait, Trump’s policies continue to harm those from the most marginalized and vulnerable populations:
Waiting is a privilege. But it is not a privilege available to the families separated by his deportation force or his Muslim ban, the asylum seekers languishing in Mexico, the people threatened by his embrace of white supremacy, the LGBTQ people whose rights he is taking away, the women whose bodies he is trying to control or the communities threatened by his denial of the climate crisis.
The letter explains that there is “still a chance to turn this around.” Speaker Pelosi can leverage her position to be the leader we need at this critical moment in history and to do what is right:
The American people deserve a leader who is willing to bravely use power to rein in the Trump administration and defend our communities. You have stated that we are facing a constitutional crisis. But the remedy for such a constitutional crisis is not traditional congressional oversight…The framers placed the impeachment power in the Constitution precisely for the purpose of confronting a lawless president like Donald Trump.
Read the full letter and add your comment explaining why we can no longer wait for an impeachment investigation. Join us in urging Speaker Pelosi to act, here.
On Saturday, May 18, Justin Amash became the first Republican member of Congress to call for impeachment proceedings against the president. Congressman Amash, the representative from Michigan’s 3rd district, laid out his thoughts on impeachment in a Twitter thread:
Here are my principal conclusions:
1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report.
2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.
3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances.
4. Few members of Congress have read the report.
Congressman Amash joins a growing number of Members of Congress who have now spoken in favor of starting impeachment proceedings. They are also joined by over 900 former federal prosecutors who agree that, if Donald Trump were not president, he would have already been charged for committing numerous crimes.
The pressure is growing on Speaker Pelosi to take action – and it does appear that the tide is turning. Top Democrats of the House Judiciary Committee suggest they may call for impeachment inquiry, following Former White House Counsel Don McGahn refusal to testify in response to a Congressional subpoena.
Thank you to those brave Members of Congress who have called for an impeachment inquiry and to all the activists who continue to hold our leaders accountable. It is vital that Members of Congress uphold their oaths of office to defend our Constitution. We must start impeachment proceedings now against this lawless president.
“There are those who say political expediency dictates that we not impeach. I say moral imperative always trumps political expediency.” – Congressman Al Green
“When I look back at this moment in our country, this remarkable moment in our country, I want to look back and say that I did something…Right now, doing nothing is not an option, and ten million people just told us do something.” – Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib
On May 9, 2019, Free Speech For People and our allies delivered over ten million petition signatures to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Congressman Al Green, the largest online petition in history, to demand that Congress begin an impeachment investigation of the president for his repeated and egregious abuses of power and abuses of the public trust.
At a press conference for the petition delivery, representatives from key groups joined Congresswoman Tlaib and Congressman Green to speak in support of holding the president accountable to the law. Speakers included:
John Bonifaz, President, Free Speech For People
Heidi Hess, Working Assets/CREDO
Linda Sarsour, Women’s March
Jane Slusser, Need to Impeach
Joseline Garcia, By the People
Reggie Hubbard, MoveOn
Watch the full press conference below!
Click here to read John Bonifaz’s full remarks from the press conference.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib calls on Congress to launch an impeachment inquiry of the president.
Congressman Al Green delivers remarks after receiving 10,000,000+ signatures from people across the country demanding an impeachment investigation of the president
Mobile billboard announcement of the petition delivery
From left to right: Linda Sarsour, Reggie Hubbard, Heidi Hess, and Joseline Garcia
Tomorrow, Thursday, May 9, Free Speech For People is coming together with allied groups from across the country to deliver what is likely the largest online petition in history. We will be delivering ten million petition signatures in support of an impeachment investigation of the president to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and the other Members of Congress who have joined her in calling for an impeachment inquiry.
Free Speech For People is proud to join groups like MoveOn, CREDO Mobile, Need to Impeach, Women’s March, By the People, Change.org, and Democracy for America in our call for Congress to begin impeachment proceedings NOW.
From the moment Trump took office, Donald Trump has proven he is a direct and serious threat to our Republic. Free Speech For People has been on the front line in sounding the alarm about Trump’s multiple impeachment offenses. Now Congress must stand up to this lawless president and begin impeachment investigations against him.
Today, Free Speech For People, with a coalition of groups in support of impeachment investigations of President Trump, is organizing supporters across the country to urge their members of Congress to sign on to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s impeachment resolution. The day of action follows Attorney General William Barr’s testimony before Congress regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election, obstruction of justice, and his handling of the Mueller Report.
From John Bonifaz, co-founder and President of Free Speech For People:
“Members of Congress must confront the constitutional crisis facing the nation today…President Trump is a direct and serious threat to our Republic. On an almost daily basis, he attacks our Constitution, our democracy, and the rule of law. It is long past time for Members of Congress to stand up to this lawless president and to start impeachment proceedings now.”
Click here to call now and urge your local representative to stand with Congresswoman Tlaib.
“We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis. This book lays out the case for impeachment against Donald Trump in stark terms. If you are troubled about Trump’s lawlessness, I think it is your responsibility as a concerned citizen to read this book and to learn how best to protect our democracy.” – Tom Steyer, founder of Need to Impeach
Written by a trio of veteran constitutional attorneys, The Constitution Demands It, makes the definitive legal case for the impeachment of Donald Trump.
