1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

President Donald Trump has spent years telling the American people that election fraud, unlawful voting, and insecure elections represent grave threats to our country. Now, he has publicly led his own supporters in a voting pledge declaring, “I don’t care if I’m registered or not” and pledging to “cheat like hell.” This cannot be dismissed or excused. President Trump cannot repeatedly demand election security, condemn alleged illegal voting, and warn Americans that election fraud threatens our country, then encourage his own supporters to engage in the very conduct he has claimed is so dangerous. Election integrity does not depend on which candidate or political party benefits. There must be one standard for everyone. I urge every elected official receiving this message, regardless of party or office, to publicly condemn this conduct, call for President Trump’s impeachment, and use every lawful and democratic means available within your authority to protect the integrity of our elections, our constitutional system of government, and the rights of the people. Voting is a fundamental democratic right. Our government derives its legitimate authority from the people, and every eligible citizen must be able to exercise that right under laws applied equally to everyone. No President, political party, or government official should be permitted to undermine those principles for political advantage. But your responsibility extends beyond elections. I am asking you to protect the constitutional and civil rights of ALL United States citizens and to defend the unalienable human rights of ALL people. Our commitment to human dignity, equality before the law, representative government, due process, and individual liberty cannot depend upon someone's political beliefs, race, religion, sex, nationality, immigration status, wealth, or whether protecting them is politically convenient. These principles belong to all of us. Our democratic rights are not a joke or a campaign prop. Americans have fought, sacrificed, protested, organized, and worked for generations to preserve representative government and expand its promises to people who were previously denied them. Those rights deserve vigilant protection from anyone who would undermine them, including the President of the United States. I am not asking you to abandon democratic institutions in order to defend them. I am asking you to use them. Speak publicly. Exercise the lawful authority of your office. Support investigations and oversight. Support impeachment and constitutional accountability where appropriate. Defend lawful elections and the peaceful transfer of political power. Oppose attempts to deprive people of their rights. Work with officials across political divisions whenever doing so protects our constitutional democracy and the people it exists to serve. Party loyalty must never come before your responsibility to the people. If election fraud is dangerous to our republic, it remains dangerous regardless of who encourages it. If constitutional rights matter, they must matter when protecting people with whom we disagree. If human rights are truly unalienable, they cannot disappear when defending them becomes politically difficult. I urge you to fulfill the responsibility entrusted to you by the people. Call for the impeachment of President Trump and use every lawful, constitutional, and democratic means available to protect our elections, our democratic institutions, the rights of every United States citizen, and the fundamental human rights of every person. No President is above the law. Government exists to serve the people. Please act accordingly.