Oakland poised to be 12th city in U.S. to ask Congress to investigate the impeachment of Trump
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OAKLAND (Lisa Fernandez/KTVU) - Oakland is poised to become the 12th city in the nation to ask Congress to investigate the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, the city's Rules and Legislation Committee will vote to place the item on the agenda for June 27, the same day a rally will be held by local Indivisible and resistance groups.
Alameda, Berkeley and Richmond in the Bay Area have already adopted such resolutions, as have Los Angeles; Charlotte, Vermont and Cambridge, Mass. Oakland's resolution is sponsored by councilmen Dan Kalb and Abel Guillen and supported by City Attorney Barbara Parker.
While symbolic, groups such as Alameda4Impeachment say that these resolutions send "a strong message from the community to California's Congressional delegation that Donald Trump needs investigation into his potential violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U. S. Constitution and other crimes such as obstruction of justice."
The impeachment effort is largely led by Free Speech For People, which launched a petition that more than a million people have signed. Activists argue that Trump has been "in direct violation" of the Constitution because of his personal and business holdings present "unprecedented conflicts of interest."
More concrete actions have been taken as well. This month, the attorneys general for the District of Columbia and Maryland sued Trump for improperly accepting payments from foreign governments. In January, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics also sued Trump over the Emoluments Clause, arguing that his Trump-owned buildings take in rent and other payments from foreign governments.
For his part, Trump has denied any wrongdoing. His representatives have argued that selling his business empire or putting it into a blind trust would be too difficult. In January, Trump told reporters at the White House that the first lawsuit was "without merit. Totally without merit."
The list of cities where councils have voted to investigate impeachment is here.