Heidi M Przybyla

USA TODAY

A coalition of outside groups seeking to pressure Republican members of the Electoral College to vote against Donald Trump are sinking half a million dollars into a final ad buy in all 50 states.

The ad is a 30-second version of a YouTube video released earlier this week featuring celebrities, including Martin Sheen and Debra Messing. It will run on cable and satellite television Saturday and Sunday, according to information provided to USA TODAY.

It features a number of celebrities quoting the founders in the Federalist Papers, specifically the duty of electors to ensure that the presidency only goes to someone who is “to an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.”

The 538 members of the Electoral College meet Monday in state capitols to cast their votes for president, in what is normally a symbolic gathering to formalize the majority vote in their respective states. The ad coincides with a Saturday news conference in Washington outside the Lincoln Memorial where the loosely aligned group, calling themselves the Hamilton Electors, is gathering in a final push to block Trump from the presidency.

Electors’ lawyer: Founding Fathers ‘anticipated’ Trump

The effort has been ongoing since the Nov. 8 election as the mostly progressive group argues Trump is unqualified as the first president in the nation’s history with no government or military experience and that his business empire poses significant conflicts of interest.

In the past week, it highlighted confirmation from both the FBI and CIA that during the campaign the Russian government hacked the U.S. – specifically the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman – in an attempt to help Trump.

Among the speakers is Chris Suprun of Texas, the only Republican who’s openly indicated his intention to disregard the popular vote in his state to oppose Trump.

“Electors are flying blind going into the public Electoral College proceedings on Monday, with more news coming out every day that Trump is a Russian stooge,” said Suprun. “Ronald Reagan didn't win the Cold War so that Putin could pick our President less than 50 years later,” he said.

Anti-Trump groups to protest Electoral College, urging it to change the vote

The ad is sponsored by the groups Unite for America and Americans Take Action.

The effort faces long odds. Trump won 306 electoral votes, with 270 needed, so 37 Republican electors would need to flip their votes. The one alternative to Trump, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, has told electors not to vote for him. Even if there were a mass defection, the matter would kick to the Republican-led House of Representatives, which is unlikely to override their own party’s president. Further, the Republican National Committee has been conducting a parallel whip effort to make sure electors stick to the plan to vote for Trump.

Yet the Hamilton Electors say they have a chance if they are loud enough in the final hours. “As we know from the Federalist Papers, the Framers created the electors to be more than bean-counters, to exercise actual intelligence and discretion,” said Michael Baca, a Colorado elector Democrat.

Clinton's team backs electors' demand for an intelligence briefing

“In light of Russian interference in the 2016 election, Trump's refusal to release his taxes so we can assess foreign conflicts of interests, and the lack of an intelligence briefing prior to the Electoral College on December 19th, this election must be decided in the U.S. House of Representatives, as has happened twice in our nation's history,” said Baca.

“Every Presidential candidate and member of Congress should be coming forward to do everything they possibly can to prevent a Constitutional crisis,” he said, also mentioning the need for Hillary Clinton to participate by releasing her electors to vote as they please.