Today, Common Cause called on every Member of the U.S. Senate to vote to convict former President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection by a mob that stormed the United States Capitol, leaving five dead, in an attempt to stop certification of the legitimate election of Joe Biden as President. The letter urges Senators to defend the Constitution and the rule of law by voting “yes” to convict Trump on the incitement of insurrection article of impeachment, and to follow conviction with a vote to prevent Trump from holding office again. 

“Americans are united in condemning the deadly attack on the Capitol, and they are united in their belief that those responsible must be held accountable. Responsibility for that dark day in our nation’s history begins with former President Trump, who orchestrated and incited the insurrection, and he must be held accountable. Donald Trump must be convicted and banned from ever holding office again,” said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause. “It is time for every member of the Senate to do their duty, to put our country first, and safeguard our democracy not only from the former president but from any future autocrat who would trample on our Constitution. History is watching and so is the nation.”

The letter emphasizes that Trump’s role and responsibility for the insurrection was longstanding and premeditated. He spent months in the leadup to and after the election attacking the integrity of our elections. And once he lost an election that Department of Homeland Security officials called “the most secure in American history,” his attorneys tried but could produce no evidence to the contrary in the courts. The President  pressured election officials to throw out thousands of votes in predominantly Black and Brown communities in order to overturn election results. That effort also proved unsuccessful, but the lies he foisted on his followers led to the angry mob that he ultimately incited and directed toward the Capitol on January 6th.

The letter informs Senators that Common Cause will score this vote in our next Democracy Scorecard. .

To read the full letter to Senators, click here.