--- title: Republican Scott Rigell Signs Letter Against Donald Trump description: GOP Rep. Scott Rigell told TIME he signed a letter calling on the Republican party to defund Donald Trump because Trump is "catastrophic." canonical: https://time.com/4459210/donald-trump-scott-rigell-letter/ author: Will Drabold article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-19T16:45:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:42.988Z article:section: Politics og:title: I Signed Anti-Trump Letter For a 'Clear Conscience' og:description: GOP Congressman says Trump is "catastrophic" for the Republican party og:url: https://time.com/4459210/donald-trump-scott-rigell-letter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24550dac94cfb0c4/6988a1b72dce01121d9ea3c8/scott-rigell-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3947 og:image:height: 2220 og:image:alt: Rep. Scott Rigell og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: I Signed Anti-Trump Letter For a 'Clear Conscience' twitter:description: GOP Congressman says Trump is "catastrophic" for the Republican party twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24550dac94cfb0c4/6988a1b72dce01121d9ea3c8/scott-rigell-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republican Congressman: I Signed Anti-Trump Letter For a 'Clear Conscience' > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Aug 19, 2016 4:45 PM UTC  Virginia Rep. Scott Rigell arrives for the House Republican Conference meeting in the basement of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015. Virginia Rep. Scott Rigell arrives for the House Republican Conference meeting in the basement of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015. Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call,Inc./Getty Images by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Aug 19, 2016 4:45 PM UTC Virginia Rep. Scott Rigell was one of two sitting members of Congress to recently sign a letter calling on the Republican party to stop supporting Trump’s presidential campaign. “There is not one character trait in Donald Trump I would want my son to emulate,” Rigell told TIME on Friday. “I’m so embarrassed to be identified with him and in fact, I couldn’t be.” Seventy former Republican elected and party officials [had signed the letter](http://time.com/4449116/donald-trump-rnc-funding-gop/) when it was leaked last week. Addressed to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, the document calls for the party to focus funds on supporting down ballot candidates over Trump. This week, two sitting members of Congress, Wisconsin Rep. Reid Ribble and Rigell, signed on. The total number of Republican signatures has passed 120. Rigell came to Congress in 2010 during the Tea Party wave. He is not running for reelection this year. While he describes himself as “very conservative” — he favors temporarily preventing Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. and wants to build the wall along the Mexican border — Rigell believes Trump’s candidacy is “catastrophic” for the Republican agenda. **Read More:** [_Read The Republican Letter Calling For The RNC to Cut Donald Trump’s Funding_](http://time.com/4449116/donald-trump-rnc-funding-gop/) “I need to have a clear conscience in this matter,” Rigell said to explain why he signed the letter and [endorsed](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/07/us/politics/gary-johnson-libertarian-scott-rigell.html) former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, the Libertarian nominee for President. The Virginia congressmen believes a Republican hold on the House is more fragile than most understand. “I think the Senate is in real doubt,” Rigell added. “That is a very steep hill to climb.” The letter Rigell signed was delivered to Priebus earlier this week. The Republican Party has yet to comment on the letter, though [multiple](http://time.com/4447985/inside-donald-trump-meltdown/) [reports](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-rnc-support-226987) say party insiders are considering pulling funds from Trump’s campaign. On Thursday, Trump [bought $4 million in television ads](http://time.com/4458268/donald-trump-4-million-first-tv-ad-buy/), the first such purchase of his general election campaign. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4459210/donald-trump-scott-rigell-letter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4459210/donald-trump-scott-rigell-letter/"},"headline":"Republican Congressman: I Signed Anti-Trump Letter For a 'Clear Conscience'","datePublished":"2016-08-19T16:45:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:42.988Z","description":"Rep. 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