Impeach NOW!

Congressman,

Five months ago, I wrote to you demanding president Trump's impeachment.  In the intervening months, the case for impeachment has only grown, and today it came to a shocking head:

At a remarkable 46-minute joint news conference inside the Finnish presidential palace, Trump would not challenge Putin’s claim that the Russian government played no role in trying to sabotage the U.S. election, despite the Justice Department’s indictments Friday of 12 Russian intelligence officers accused of hacking Democratic emails as part of a broad subterfuge operation to help Trump win the election.

Trump went on to condemn the expansive federal investigation of Russian interference as “a disaster for our country” and “a total witch hunt,” arguing that the probe, along with “foolish” American policies, had severely impaired relations between the two countries.

Russia's attack on America during the 2016 elections is irrefutable fact.  This is the conclusion drawn by the House and Senate intelligence committees, and the full U.S. intelligence community, as well as Trump's own Director of National Intelligence.  And yet the president has elected to stand on foreign soil, side-by-side with the architect of that attack, and announce to the world that he puts more trust in the denial of a brutal dictator than he does in America's intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

If this is not an impeachable offense, sir, then what is?

I am not alone in this view.  Former CIA Director John Brennan called Trump's behavior "nothing short of treasonous", while former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said the president "failed America today", and Obama's Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said "the President of the United States essentially capitulated and seems intimidated by Vladimir Putin".  Clapper has previously stated that he considers the president to be a Russian "asset".

You swore and oath, congressman.  And while it's clear that the Republican caucus has decided to look the other way, the American people have not.  A day of reckoning will come, sir.  So what you need to decide is whether you want to be remembered as a Republican who put country over party, or whether you want to be remembered as complicit in the greatest act of cowardice our country has seen.

Jason Lewis Supports Family Separation

Jason Lewis 2nd District, Minnesota 418 House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-2271 June 12, 2018 Mr. Guy D. Bailey Dear Mr. Bailey: Thank you for contacting me regarding concerns about boarder enforcement policies. Understanding your ideas and concerns helps me better represent you and the Second District of Minnesota. I value your comments and appreciate the opportunity to respond. As you may know, it has recently been reported that the Department of Homeland Security has adopted a new policy of separating their minor children from their parents at the border. DHS has not changed its policies around separating adults from children at the border. Consistent with the policy of the previous administration, separation will occur if officials believe that a child is in danger of potential smuggling and trafficking activities, especially if DHS cannot verify the familial relationship. However, if individuals are arrested for illegally crossing the border they will be prosecuted for violating federal law. On Friday, April 6th, the Department of Justice announced a zero-tolerance policy for criminal illegal entry to ensure the law is upheld. When adults are jailed, they are not able to be accompanied by their minor children and the children are placed with the Department of Health and Human Services. May was the third month in a row where more than 50,000 individuals were apprehended for crossing the border illegally. With such a large number of families attempting to illegally cross the border, many children are placed in the unfortunate situation where they are separated from their parents. Those seeking asylum can avoid family separation by presenting themselves at a legal border crossing. Like you, I believe our current immigration system is broken. I believe that we can make meaningful reforms that protect our national security while also ensuring we have a fair system for individuals to immigrate to the United States. If legislation regarding DHS immigration policies come before the House of Representatives, I will certainly consider it with your thoughts in mind. Thank you for contacting me. As Congress debates solutions to the challenges facing our nation, I hope you will continue to share your thoughts and views with me. Should you have any further questions or comments about this or any legislative issue, please do not hesitate to contact me in my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 225-2271. Also, please visit me on social media at: www.facebook.com/repjasonlewis, www.youtube.com/repjasonlewis, https://twitter.com/repjasonlewis, and my website at jasonlewis.house.gov to sign up for my e-newsletter for the latest updates from Washington, D.C. and around the district. Jason Lewis Member of Congress

#EndFamilySeparation

Letter sent to Jason Lewis, June 2 2018.

I didn't think it possible, but in recent weeks Donald Trump, the most corrupt individual to occupy the presidency, has hit a new low.

As I'm sure you're aware, it is now official federal policy to separate immigrant children from their parents when crossing the border, even when those immigrants are --- legally --- seeking asylum in the U.S.  Sadly, Mirian's story is all too typical:

Fleeing government violence in Honduras, Mirian came to the U.S. with her young son on Feb. 20, 2018, presenting herself to immigration authorities and asking for asylum. During her interview, Mirian gave the immigration officers her Honduran ID card and several identification documents for her child, including his birth certificate and his hospital birth record, both of which list her as his mother.

However, once the interview was over, the officers said that they were going to take her son away from her. She repeatedly asked why they couldn’t stay together, but she was not given a reason. The officers then made her carry her 18-month-old child outside where a government car was waiting. As she placed him in the car seat, he began to cry. Without giving her a moment to comfort him or say goodbye, the officers shut the door and drove away.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you that this is unacceptable.  As a father of two daughters yourself, I'm sure you would do all in your power to end such a tyrannical government policy if your daughters had been taken from you.

So why are you silent now?

This barbaric family-separation policy is the result of a new, 'zero-tolerance' policy on immigration which Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on May 8.  This policy has been a betrayal of American values in other ways, such as processing dozens of immigration cases at a time through kangaroo courts.  And Trump has engineered these abhorrent policies for one reason only: to try to force Democrats to agree to build his stupid and expensive wall on the Mexican border.

Put pressure on the Democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from there parents once they cross the Border into the U.S. Catch and Release, Lottery and Chain must also go with it and we MUST continue building the WALL! DEMOCRATS ARE PROTECTING MS-13 THUGS.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2018

These policies are immoral and inhumane for any reason, but it is particularly repulsive that our president is visiting these injustices on vulnerable families simply to use them as a bargaining chip.

I know that, like the rest of your caucus, you have been only too happy to turn a blind eye to Donald Trump's brazen and repeated violations of norms, laws and the Constitution.  I'm asking you once again to consult your conscience and use your position as a member of Congress to oppose these authoritarian policies as strongly as possible.

UPDATE: Here is Jason's wholly bloodless and inadequate response.  Note in particular the passive voice here: "With such a large number of families attempting to illegally cross the border, many children are placed in the unfortunate situation where they are separated from their parents. Those seeking asylum can avoid family separation by presenting themselves at a legal border crossing."  The first sentence completely dismisses the fact that this is a calculated policy choice that Donald Trump made, using immigrant families as pawns in an attempt to force Democrats to agree to his border wall.

The second sentence is an outright lie, as immigration agents are separating ALL undocumented families, whether they apply for asylum or not.

The Trump policy of family separation is essentially a war crime.  And Jason Lewis is complicit.

Impeach Now

Letter sent to Jason Lewis, February 4, 2018.

Congressman,

Enough is enough.  NBC is reporting:

Trump is even talking to friends about the possibility of asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to consider prosecuting Mueller and his team.

"Here's how it would work: 'We're sorry, Mr. Mueller, you won't be able to run the federal grand jury today because he has to go testify to another federal grand jury,'" said one Trump adviser.

I know I don't need to explain this to someone as intelligent as yourself, but this is a clear instance of the president encouraging his Attorney General to open a baseless prosecution against the man investigating him for possible criminal wrongdoing.  This is obvious abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

I also know that if Hillary Clinton were president right now, and suggested the exact same course of action to her Attorney General, you and the rest of the Republicans in Congress would open impeachment proceedings tomorrow (and you would be right to do so!).


If you fail to publicly denounce Trump's actions as an impeachable offense, I will ask to meet with you personally so you can explain to me why you think it doesn't meet that standard.  I am happy to meet with you at your Burnsville office, or wherever else in Minnesota is most convenient for you.

Save Net Neutrality: The Sequel

On December 14, the FCC made a mistake.  It overturned the net neutrality rule put in place by Obama's FCC in 2015.  I have written to you before on this subject, explaining that the elimination of the net neutrality standard is contrary to the First Amendment guarantee to freedom of speech, as well as being harmful to small businesses.

I know those arguments didn't sway you.  But today, I received notice that Minnesota's Attorney General, Lori Swanson, is planning to join other state Attorneys General in legal action to reverse the FCC's decision.

After the recent tax bill passed with NO Democratic support, Republicans would do themselves a favor by joining Democrats in a bipartisan vote to restore the 2015 net neutrality regulations.  Doing so would be both good policy AND good politics, as net neutrality is supported by majorities of BOTH Republicans and Democrats in the general public.

Working to reverse this craven decision is good for America, good for your constituents, good for the Republican party, and good for Jason Lewis,  It's a win-win-win-win.

Stop Demonizing the FBI

I see that the Republican propaganda network is relentlessly doing Trump's bidding in attempting to undermine both Robert Mueller and the FBI.  And it appears that congressional Republicans are only too happy to join in.  So I thought I would take the time to point out some facts which are obvious to everyone, and thus certainly to a smart guy like yourself:

• Like all Americans, FBI agents are entitled to their political opinions.
• Not all FBI agents are going to be Trump supporters --- and this should surprise no one, as Trump is historically unpopular, with some polls showing him at 32 percent approval.
• While I agree that FBI agents should not publicly discuss their support or opposition to a president, the text messages which started this whole ridiculous witch hunt were private, and we only know about them because they were sent on government-owned phones.
• The agents in question may think Trump is an "idiot", but they think Bernie is an "idiot" too, and "worried about what happens if HRC is elected".  This is not exactly a smoking gun proving that the FBI is biased in the Democrats' favor.
• Also, Trump is, objectively speaking, an idiot.
• The bigger concern should be why the DOJ appears to have selectively leaked only the anti-Trump texts to Congress.  This appears to be a clear-cut case of Trump's Justice Department interfering with an ongoing criminal investigation, by attempting to discredit both the FBI and Robert Mueller.
• The logical consequence of the Republican argument --- that it's inappropriate for Trump critics to be part of the investigation --- is that the only people qualified to investigate Trump are those who believe he's done nothing wrong.  That is clearly an absurd position.  It also reveals that Republicans must implicitly understand that Trump is actually guilty of wrongdoing if they don't believe his actions can withstand critical scrutiny.
• Sadly, it appears that House Republicans are now planning to use this manufactured controversy as an excuse to shut down their (admittedly Potemkin) probe into Trump's transgressions.

This last point is where you come in.

Surely, you have watched voters in Virginia and Alabama turn out in higher-than-usual numbers for an off-year election, to make sure that they vote Democrats into office.  There is little doubt that these elections mark the start of a trend, which is likely to result in an electoral tsunami in 2018 which will wash Republicans out of the House of Representatives.  I fully expect you to be taken out in that wave, and I expect you do, too.  So I'm not writing to you on the subject of your electoral survival.

I'm writing to you about your legacy.

Four years from now, when adults once again control all the levers of power in government, the Trump administration will be remembered as a corrupt and incompetent regime of unprecedented magnitude.  And when people talk of the Republican 115th Congress, do you want to be remembered as one of the dozens of Republicans who did the president's bidding in an effort to sweep his misdeeds under the rug?

Or do you want to be remembered as one of the few Republicans who took a courageous stand for the rule of law?  Someone who placed principle ahead of party, and acted in the best interest of the country, despite weathering the scorn and derision of his colleagues?

I'm telling you congressman, your legacy is all you're going to have left come January 2019, and you have a very short time to build it.  You know which side is the right side of history.  Do you have the courage to be on it?

Jason Refuses to Disavow Support of Roy Moore from Trump, RNC

Jason Lewis 2nd District, Minnesota 418 House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-2271 December 8, 2017 Mr. GUY D. BAILEY Dear Mr. Bailey: Thank you for contacting me regarding the recent high-profile incidents of sexual assault and harassment. Understanding your ideas and concerns helps me better represent you and the Second District of Minnesota. I value your comments and appreciate the opportunity to respond. As I have said many times, the reports of sexual harassment incidents by people in positions of public trust are extremely troubling. Suffice it to say, anyone who commits sexual assault is not fit for public office. I continue to believe the best lesson we can learn from all of this is to recommit ourselves to restoring respect for women-in fact, for everyone, in society. I want to ensure that everyone is treated with respect in the workplace, regardless of gender. That is why I strongly supported H.Res. 630, a resolution requiring each Member, officer, and employee of the House of Representatives to complete a program of training in workplace rights and responsibilities each session of Congress. I think this training is an important step to combat sexual harassment, and I, and my staff, completed this training even before the resolution passed. H.Res. 630 passed the House of Representatives, with unanimous support, on November 29, 2017. All Members, officers, and employees of the House of Representatives will now be required to complete this training annually. As the father of two daughters, this is an issue that is very important to me. Everyone deserves to feel safe at their place of employment. I will continue to monitor these incidents, and if further legislation regarding workplace rights comes before the House of Representatives, I will certainly consider it with your thoughts in mind. Thank you for contacting me. As Congress debates solutions to the challenges facing our nation, I hope you will continue to share your thoughts and views with me. Should you have any further questions or comments about this or any legislative issue, please do not hesitate to contact me in my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 225-2271. Also, please visit me on social media at: www.facebook.com/repjasonlewis, www.youtube.com/repjasonlewis, https://twitter.com/repjasonlewis, and my website at jasonlewis.house.gov to sign up for my e-newsletter for the latest updates from Washington, D.C. and around the district. Jason Lewis Member of Congress