On Jan. 13, 2021, David G. Valadao of California cast one of only 10 Republican votes in the House to impeach President Donald Trump. Mr. Valadao said: “His inciting rhetoric [on Jan. 6, 2021] was un-American, abhorrent, and absolutely an impeachable offense. It’s time to put country over politics.” For this patriotic stand, Mr. Valadao was singled out for attack by the GOP’s dominant pro-Trump wing — and also by Democrats. Leading up to his June 7 primary contest, Democrats spent $110,000 on ads criticizing his impeachment vote hoping to boost the more ideologically extreme Republican Chris Mathys to victory, giving Democrat Rudy Salas a weaker opponent in the November general election…

Now Democratic-aligned activists are trying once again to punish Mr. Valadao’s good deed. As Axios first reported, the Voter Participation Project, a political action committee that backs Democratic candidates for House and Senate, has set up a website, traitordavidvaladao.com, calling Mr. Valadao “A Traitor Who Turned His Back On President Trump To Serve His Own Interests” in an attempt to weaken his support among Republicans. VPP’s Twitter profile describes the PAC’s purposes as “electing voting rights champions and holding Republicans accountable for their attacks on the ballot box.”…

The top of the Democratic Party hierarchy backed this ends-justifies-the-means approach. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) has defended it as “in furtherance of our winning the election.”