Billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer sent a letter to mayors and governors urging them to publicize their stances on impeaching President Trump and call on federal lawmakers to support his removal from office.
Steyer addressed the letter to all 50 governors and 2,000 mayors of cities around the country, who he said, “have a duty to speak out.” He accused Trump of “violat[ing] the Constitution, the office of the Presidency, and the trust of the public.”
Steyer’s latest letter, obtained by The Hill, comes a week after he penned letters to Democratic congressional offices and Democrats’ House and Senate campaign committees, demanding that they support impeaching the president if the party regains control of Congress in 2018.
The Democratic mega-donor and environmental activist points to criticism of Trump from within the Republican Party and his own Cabinet and condemns the president for “actively sabotaging” ObamaCare and his decision to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement. {mosads}
With an eye on Democrats trying to take back the House and the Senate in 2018, Steyer said impeachment “becomes a very real issue should we succeed in our midterm goal.”
Democrats need to flip 24 seats in order to win the House majority and they have an even more uphill battle in the Senate, where the party is defending 10 seats carried by Trump last November.
“That makes it imperative for every Governor of every state, and every mayor of every city, to acknowledge where they stand,” Steyer wrote in the letter sent to lawmakers on Wednesday. “I am asking you today to make public your position on the impeachment of Donald Trump, and to urge your federal representatives to remove him from office at once.”
“Your constituents deserve to know they are represented by people in every level of government who have the patriotism and political courage to stand up and take action when it is so desperately needed,” he wrote.
Steyer, who hasn’t ruled out a run for Senate in California, appeared to take several shots at Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), writing that there’s no time for “patience.” Feinstein irked many progressives after calling for “patience” when it comes to Trump’s presidency.
Feinstein, who recently announced she’s running for reelection, has already drawn a challenger from the left and Steyer, who spent around $91 million supporting Democrats in 2016, said in a statement last week that’ll he’ll make an announcement about whether or not he’ll run “soon.”