Keep up the Pressure with 1 Simple Phone Call!

We are halfway there! Thousands of phone calls, letters, faxes, postcards and signs held high at protests helped bring about the appointment of a special counsel last Wednesday. Now, we can focus on getting Congress to create an independent commission. Call your House rep today to support the Protect our Democracy Act!

Recent reports from the last 24 hours remind us just how much we need an independent investigation into possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia: Michael Flynn has refused to release subpoenaed documents, the White House is not cooperating with an investigation by the Office of Government Ethics,  the president allegedly asked intelligence chiefs to publicly deny the evidence behind the FBI’s investigation, and former CIA head John Brennan revealed that he had seen intelligence reports showing contacts between Russian agents and members of the Trump campaign.

Last week’s appointment of a special counsel was a huge step forward, but we still need Congress to create an independent commission to investigate. A bill in the House, the Protect our Democracy Act (HR 356), would do just that. Call or write to your House rep today! 

If you have a Democratic House rep, here are your talking points:

1. Thank you for co-sponsoring the Protect our Democracy Act. (All of NJ’s House Democrats have co-sponsored this bill).  Please do everything you can to increase support for this bill and create an independent commission.
2. The congressional committees currently conducting investigations are understaffed. We need fully staffed and fully funded investigations — now and in the future.

If you have a Republican House rep, here are your talking points:

1. Our country needs to know that the rule of law is being followed, that our checks and balances our working, and that our government is not corrupt. To do this, we need an independent commission in addition to a special counsel. I want you to join your 4 Republican colleagues in the House (Rep. Justin Amash (MI),  Rep. Charlie Dent (PA),  Rep. Walter Jones (NC), and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (IL) ) and support an independent commission, specifically the Protect our Democracy Act (HR 356).
2. The congressional committees currently conducting investigations are understaffed. We need fully staffed and fully funded investigations — now and in the future.

Not sure who your House rep is? Find out here. 

Why do we need an independent commission if there is already a special counsel? Two reasons:

• An independent commission is more likely to present its findings to the public, ensuring the highest level of transparency and accountability to the American people. The special counsel appointed by the DOJ will only present findings if charges are brought against individuals.
• A commission created by Congress is the best way to ensure an independent, bipartisan investigation because it will be conducted by equal numbers of investigators appointed by the two parties. The DOJ’s special counsel is still directly answerable to the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, whose appointment by Trump and involvement in the firing of James Comey have raised questions about his independence.

LEARN MORE

• About the Protect our Democracy Act
• About the understaffing of congressional investigations into the Russia scandal
• About evidence of Russia’s influence on the 2016 election
• About the need for an independent commission
• About the differences between a special counsel and an independent commission