Conservative group unveils $2 million ad campaign against Trump impeachment

The conservative American Action Network (AAN) on Wednesday announced it is launching a $2 million digital ad campaign urging House Democrats in swing districts to vote no on impeaching President Trump.

The campaign from AAN, which is aligned with House GOP leadership, will target 37 members of Congress, including 30 Democrats who represent districts Republicans will target in the 2020 cycle. The ads constitute the first phase of an ongoing initiative and will also appear in seven GOP-held districts, including a handful that are expected to be competitive.

{mosads}“Congress should be working on the issues the American people care about – passing the [United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement], creating good jobs, and securing our border – not getting bogged down in what is clearly a partisan impeachment charade,” AAN President Dan Conston said in a statement.

“It’s time for Members of Congress to take a stand, vote no on impeachment, and get back to work on the issues that will actually make a difference in the lives of Americans across our country,” he added. “Let voters decide elections.”

AAN included in its statement an example of an ad targeting Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.), who flipped a conservative district last year. The ad urges followers to “tell Rep. Joe Cunningham to work on issues we care about.”

“Stop this partisan charade. Vote NO on impeachment,” the message adds. 

The ad campaign is also working to boost seven House Republicans, saying the GOP lawmakers are “focused on issues that matter: securing better trade deals and creating good jobs.”

The announcement of the ad campaign comes the same day the House is holding its first public hearings in the Democrats’ impeachment investigation into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Both William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, a top State Department official, testified Wednesday they had concerns over Trump and his associates’ conversations with Ukrainian officials.

Despite several witnesses who testified in public and behind closed doors that they were uncomfortable with Trump’s dealings with Kyiv, Republicans intend to make impeachment a key campaign issue in 2020, hoping to cast the House Democrats’ effort as one meant to unfairly unseat the president and reverse the results from the 2016 election.

House Democrats launched their impeachment investigation in September amid concerns that Trump might have leveraged $400 million in military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a chief political rival, and his son on unfounded corruption allegations. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.