Need to Impeach is a left-of-center super PAC created in 2017 to support independent expenditure campaigns opposing President Donald Trump. Need to Impeach is closely associated with billionaire environmentalist and Democratic mega-donor Tom Steyer, who is the super PAC’s founder and principal funder.^{1 3}

Campaigns

Trump’s “Impeachable Offenses”

The Need to Impeach website lists a series of alleged “impeachable offenses” that President Donald Trump and the Trump administration have committed. Most prominently the organization accused President Trump of collusion with Russian military intelligence’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. ⁴

Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s report to the Attorney General in early 2019 concluded that his team found no evidence supporting the claim that the President or his campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russian election interference after a nearly two-year investigation.⁵

2018 Midterm Elections

Need to Impeach spent $4,482,302 on campaign mailings and materials, $4,354,160 on web advertisements, and $2,427,422 on unspecified media buys during the 2018 midterm election cycle. The PAC did not spend any money directly supporting federal or local candidates. The PAC paid $4,712,416 to Deliver Strategies, a publicity firm that caters strictly to left-of-center causes including NAACP, Hillary for America, Color of Change, and Obama for America.^{6 7}

2020 Senate Races

In November 2020, Need to Impeach joined with Rocky Mountain Values and Giffords PAC to donate a combined $1,200,000 on TV ads in Colorado to influence the outcome of its upcoming 2020 senate race with the aim of helping the Democratic Party retake the senate, according to Politico. At the time of the report, no Republican groups had released ads in Colorado. ⁸

Leadership

Tom Steyer is the founder of Need to Impeach. He was previously the co-founder and senior managing partner at Farallon Capital Management a hedge fund worth $30 billion. Steyer has since sold his stake in the fund to focus on political and environmental activist causes such as NextGen Climate Action, Advanced Energy Economy, and Need to Impeach, all organizations and PACs he founded.

Shawnda Dean is the treasurer for Need to Impeach. Deane is also the president and political consultant for Deane and Company, a Sacramento based consulting firm that caters mostly to labor unions and left-of-center PACs.⁹

Kevin Mack is the lead strategist for Need to Impeach. He is a senior partner at Deliver Strategies, a company that Need to Impeach paid $4,712,416 in 2018. He has also worked as executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign, a regional director at Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the executive director at Virginia House Democratic Caucus. According to his LinkedIn profile, Mack worked as a “direct mail consultant” for multiple left-leaning organizations and labor unions such as Planned Parenthood Federation of America, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, and IAFF.^{10 11}

Sandra Lyon is the managing Director of Need to Impeach. She previously worked for the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and for the American Federation of Teachers, the second largest teachers’ union in the United States.¹²

Erik Olvera is the Head of Communications for Need to Impeach. He previously served in head communications positions at Earthjustice, a left-of-center environmental advocacy organization, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, a LGBT-interest advocacy organization.¹³

Funding

As of early April 2019, NTI reported $15.3 million in raised funds. $12.3 million of that total came from Steyer. The PAC committed $40 million to canvassing and media purchases urging House Democrats to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump.

1. Rutz, David. “Despite Pelosi’s Opposition, Steyer Taking Impeachment Campaign to Times Square.” Washington Free Beacon. November 20, 2017. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://freebeacon.com/politics/despite-pelosis-opposition-steyer-taking-impeachment-campaign-to-times-square/.
3. “TOM STEYER TO HOST NEED TO IMPEACH SUMMIT AND ADVOCACY DAY IN D.C. AS CALLS FOR TRUMP’S REMOVAL GROW NATIONWIDE.” Need To Impeach (Press Release). January 22, 2019. Accessed March 25, 2019. https://www.needtoimpeach.com/press-releases/tom-steyer-to-host-need-to-impeach-summit-and-advocacy-day-in-d-c-as-calls-for-trumps-removal-grow-nationwide/[/note]

   Need to Impeach’s PAC treasurer is Shawnda Deane, a Sacramento, California-based Democratic Party political consultant. ²“Statement of Organization: Need To Impeach.” Federal Elections Commission. Filed October 18, 2017. Accessed March 25, 2019. http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/376/201710190300178376/201710190300178376.pdf

4. “Top 10 Impeachable Offenses.” Need to Impeach. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://www.needtoimpeach.com/impeachable-offenses/.
5. Gertz, Bill. “Russian Spearphishing Emails Fooled Democrats, Clinton Campaign in 2016.” Washington Free Beacon. April 23, 2019. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://freebeacon.com/national-security/gru-spearphishing-emails-fooled-democrats-clinton-campaign-in-2016/.
6. “Home Page.” Deliver Strategies. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://www.deliverstrategies.com/
7. “Need to Impeach Expenditures 2018.” Open Secrets. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/expenditures.php?cycle=2018&cmte=C00658526
8. “GOP Senators Hit by Early Wave of Outside Money Ahead of 2020.” POLITICO. Accessed November 8, 2019. https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/08/senate-outside-money-republicans-2020-067623.
9. “The Team.” Deane and Company. Accessed April 3, 2019. http://www.deaneandcompany.com/bios.php.
10. “TOM STEYER ASSEMBLES TEAM OF POLITICAL AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGISTS TO LEAD NEED TO IMPEACH CAMPAIGN.” Need to Impeach. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://www.needtoimpeach.com/press-releases/tom-steyer-assembles-team-of-political-and-communications-strategists-to-lead-need-to-impeach-campaign/
11. “User Profile: Kevin Mack.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kemack/
12. “TOM STEYER ASSEMBLES TEAM OF POLITICAL AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGISTS TO LEAD NEED TO IMPEACH CAMPAIGN.” Need to Impeach. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://www.needtoimpeach.com/press-releases/tom-steyer-assembles-team-of-political-and-communications-strategists-to-lead-need-to-impeach-campaign/
13. “TOM STEYER ASSEMBLES TEAM OF POLITICAL AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGISTS TO LEAD NEED TO IMPEACH CAMPAIGN.” Need to Impeach. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://www.needtoimpeach.com/press-releases/tom-steyer-assembles-team-of-political-and-communications-strategists-to-lead-need-to-impeach-campaign/