Steyer’s impeach-Trump group plans ad blitz after Cohen bombshell

by Emily Birnbaum - 08/22/18 1:38 PM ET

Billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer’s group aimed at impeaching President Trump is planning an ad blitz on the heels of Michael Cohen’s bombshell accusation against the president this week.

Steyer’s Need to Impeach campaign, which he has funded and promoted for months, launched digital ads immediately on Tuesday after Cohen, Trump’s longtime lawyer, and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort were simultaneously pleaded or were found guilty in federal criminal probes.

{mosads}”Today, in a federal courtroom, Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight felony counts,” Steyer said in a video posted to Twitter. “In another federal courtroom, his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen pled guilty to another eight felony counts.”

Our president surrounds himself with criminals. He hired criminals to work for him, he hired criminals to run his campaign, and he hired criminals to serve in his administration. How much more corruption do we need to see? Join us at https://t.co/KvyrqQS5Tt pic.twitter.com/F1zVoeoFHs

— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) August 22, 2018

“This continues a long history of Mr. Trump’s associates routinely and intentionally breaking the law,” Steyer said. “One of the counts from Mr. Cohen included conspiring to break federal election laws with Donald Trump.”

Cohen implicated President Trump in his guilty plea to a campaign finance violation, which came alongside multiple bank and tax fraud charges. Cohen in court said that Trump had directed him to arrange payments to two women during his 2016 presidential campaign in exchange for their silence about alleged affairs with Trump.

“Mr. Trump has in addition committed at least nine impeachable offenses,” Steyer said, referring to a list compiled by the Need to Impeach campaign that claims Trump could be impeached on charges, including obstruction of justice, advocating violence and endangering the national security of the U.S., among others.

The lead strategist of the impeachment group, Kevin Mack, on Wednesday told CNBC that the group is planning to shell out $1 million to launch a national ad hitting Trump over Cohen’s allegations. He said the group hopes to film the ad in the next 48 hours, CNBC reported.

“We’re going to make sure that impeachment is part of the national dialogue so that when a new House is sworn in they’ll actually step up and do their jobs,” Mack said.

Steyer has found himself at odds with Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), over his emphasis on impeachment. Pelosi has referred to impeachment as a “divisive” issue, discouraging Democrats from focusing on it ahead of the midterm elections in November.

Pelosi on Wednesday said impeachment is “not a priority,” even after Cohen’s guilty plea.

“If and when the information emerges about that, we’ll see,” Pelosi said. “It’s not a priority on the agenda going forward unless something else comes forward.”

Steyer, who has poured millions of dollars into the issue of impeachment and even went on a national tour to promote his ideas, has said young people in particular support removing the president.

Tags Donald Trump Nancy Pelosi Paul Manafort