No one has ever put all of Trump’s scandals in one place and added them up, so Americans could see the full scope of his corruption. Until now.
All year, the scandals have come so fast that we’re getting whiplash. There’s a crypto windfall enriching Trump and his family… a sketchy pardon here… a pay-to-play scheme there… shocking uses of taxpayer dollars that don’t even make the front page… then it’s onto the next. Each story hits our news feeds and then immediately gets buried by three more. Honestly, right now I can scroll through social media and find three Watergate-level scandals that won’t be talked about by Friday.
They warned us that they were going to do this. “Flood the zone,” Steve Bannon said. And the result is that no single headline captures the full scope of the grift, which means we know it’s bad but not precisely how bad.
This summer, a few of us at DEFIANCE.org decided to do something about it. The idea was simple: what if you could see it all at once? In other words, what if we literally walked through Washington and counted the corruption you can see with your own eyes? Then we’d just put every documented scandal on one map. And we’d add it up.
We couldn’t get cameras rolling until early September. Since then it’s been a flat-out sprint: two shoot days in D.C… interviews with former federal officials and whistleblowers who were fired or targeted for doing their jobs… weeks of fact-checking every claim and sourcing every dollar figure… and an edit that finished, well, extremely recently. We had a few road bumps, including warning signs that the Trump administration might try to shut us down. (More on that tomorrow.)
The result is CORRUPTIONLAND, a 35-minute documentary about what Donald Trump has turned our nation’s capital into. And we made it for one reason: the election.
Nothing is animating American voters this cycle more than corruption. Not the economy. Nothing. As I wrote about earlier this week, this is the first time in U.S. history that “corruption” is the top issue ahead of an election. Nearly 9 in 10 Americans across party lines say government corruption is widespread. People can feel it in their bones. Yet they haven’t had access to something that captures the full, sweeping extent of it. That’s what this film is. It’s a get-out-the-vote tool for Americans to help their friends and neighbors understand what’s happening in the so-called “swamp” of Washington, D.C.
So, save these dates:
Monday, October 26, 8pm ET — THE VIRTUAL PREMIERE. Members only. If you’re a paid DEFIANCE.org member, you’re already in, no ticket needed. Your link to attend will arrive in this inbox before Monday. We’ll have special guests, people from the film, and then the documentary itself, the night before anyone else sees it. (Members can also claim a spot in the film’s credits and join the VIP Pre-Party at 7pm ET. Those spots are almost sold out.)
Not a member yet? Join today and you’ll be in the room with the rest of us Monday night.
Tuesday, October 27, 12pm ET — CORRUPTIONLAND streams free for everyone at corruptionland.org, exactly one week before Election Day. Watch it. And we hope afterwards you’ll share it with the people in your life who don’t follow this stuff every day. Also, host a watch party if you’re up for it!
One more thing: a peek at the film drops TODAY. I’ll probably be on cable news networks tonight with exclusive first looks. But you’ll also get to see some early footage if you join us at 5pm ET for DEFIANCE Daily.
Your friend, in defiance,
P.S. DEFIANCE.org is a nonprofit “club for the courageous.” We literally exist to FIGHT the corruption you just read about. We announce a new effort every week to counter Trump’s abuses of power. That’s what your membership funds. If you haven’t yet, become a member today.
DEFIANCE DAILY
In case you missed it, last night’s episode of DEFIANCE Daily is below. Catch our next episode tonight at 5 pm ET!
TRACK THE TRUMP-EPSTEIN READING ROOM & BOOKMOBILE
There’s a special event in Detroit, Michigan, TODAY! Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room will host U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, and U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost for a visit at 12:30 pm ET. And if you’re in the Detroit area, you can be there too. RSVP at trumpepsteinreadingroom.com/detroit/.
If you can’t make it, we will also be streaming the event live as well.
THE ANT HILL IS OUR MEMBERS-ONLY CORNER OF THE COLONY, WHERE “DEFY ANTS” GET MORE THAN JUST THE NEWSLETTER.
IF YOU’RE ALREADY A DEFIANCE MEMBER, THEN MARCH RIGHT IN. IF NOT, SIGN UP HERE, SO YOU DON’T MISS A THING.
