The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee – DLCC has been highlighting the possibility of impeaching President Donald Trump as a way to rake in money for the organization even as the top Democrats try to quiet such talk from official party groups.
The DLCC, which focuses on electing the Democrats at the state level, sent out a fundraising pitch on Sunday night claiming that a recent poll, which is not named within the pitched email, shows that half of Americans would support impeaching Trump.
“According to a recent poll, nearly 50 percent of Americans already support impeaching President Trump,” the email stated. “They have plenty of reasons—whether it’s his firing of the FBI Director and acting Attorney General, his attacks on the courts, or Trump’s blatant corruption and conflicts of interest. That’s why we’re doing everything we can to fight back, making sure Democrats win in legislative elections nationwide to create a firewall in the states against his devastating agenda.”
The email concluded by asking the readers that if they supported impeaching Trump, which then redirects to a fundraising page for this organization.
Some of the Democrats in Washington have also stated that such impeachment talks are counterproductive for the party and have advised against pushing the narrative that a Democratic takeover of the House would lead to impeachment.
Representative Nancy Pelosi recently criticized liberal billionaire and mega-donor Tom Steyer for a $10 million dollar ad campaign that was calling for the impeachment of Trump. While Pelosi publicly said that the Steyer’s television ads were “great,” privately she is “peeved” and called it a “distraction,” as reported by news sources.
Pelosi further added that the impeachment talks are “not someplace that I think we should go” and has also warned Democrats at leadership meetings against harping on this issue. Pelosi also advised Democrats to resist Trump’s “bait” on Twitter.
Steyer, who lives in Pelosi’s district and has known her for years, countered by saying that Pelosi and establishment Democrats who shy away from impeachment talks are absolutely “dead wrong” in their judgment.
Democratic National Committee – DNC chairman Tom Perez also said that he is “not talking about impeachment” when asked about the Steyer campaign on ABC’s “This Week.”
The DNC further did not respond to an inquiry asking if it supports Democrats using such tactics to fundraise, given that the party leaders are shying away from the topic.
The DLCC, which also claims to have more than 150,000 “grassroots” supporters who would donate an average of $16 per person to the group, raised $16 million in 2014 but saw that number take a dip to $9.2 million during the 2016 election cycle, according to data that was compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The committee’s largest expenditures during the 2016 electoral campaign included $2.5 million on salaries, followed by $1 million for administrative purposes, and $596,000 that was marked as “unclassifiable.”
