--- 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: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=bb0cf950-fcce-4c5f-a160-665af6d3919d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) 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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