A conservative group is targeting House Republicans with a digital billboard campaign that is heavily critical of President Donald Trump.
In the new ads, Republicans for the Rule of Law calls out Trump for prohibiting key witnesses in the Ukraine scandal from testifying in the House impeachment inquiry against him.
The ads show Trump with a finger over his mouth to indicate that he wants silence. He appears next to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, in the images.
All apart from Trump have tape placed over their mouths to keep them from speaking.
“What Is Trump Hiding?” ask the ads, which will be placed in the congressional districts of House Republicans, including Reps. Greg Walden (Ore.), Mac Thornberry (Texas), Fred Upton (Mich.) Brian Fitzpatrick (Penn.), Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) John Katko (N.Y.) and Martha Roby (Ala.).
House Democrats unveiled two articles of impeachment against Trump on Tuesday. Trump is accused of abuse of power in relation to his alleged pressuring of Ukraine’s president to investigate potential 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden, and obstruction of Congress, following his administration’s stonewalling of the congressional probe into the initial allegation.
“The president doesn’t own the government and he’s not above the law,” Republicans for the Rule of Law spokesperson Chris Truax said in a statement to HuffPost. “He’s merely a caretaker acting on our behalf and when Congress demands an accounting, it’s the President’s duty to comply.”
“President Trump has been given every opportunity to answer the charges against him,” the statement continued. “He demands friendly witnesses, yet refuses to allow his most loyal supporters to testify. He complains the proceedings are unfair, yet refuses to allow his lawyers to participate in the hearings.”
“If President Trump really could prove he is innocent of the impeachment charges against him, he would have made some effort to do so by now,” Truax concluded. “If the President really does think the facts will exonerate him, why won’t he let those facts come out?”
Last month, Republicans for the Rule of Law launched an ad campaign on Fox News in a bid to educate GOP voters on the facts of the Ukraine scandal.
