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Amherst lawyer and the co-founder and president of Free Speech For People is hoping to see impeachment proceedings begin against Donald Trump.

(Diane Lederman/The Republican)

AMHERST -- As expected, Town Meeting has joined Leverett and Pelham in approving a resolution calling for U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern to begin the impeachment process of President Donald J. Trump.

The vote here Wednesday night was 116 to 13.

Amherst becomes the ninth community nationwide to pass such a resolution. Brookline and Newton also will be taking up the issue at Town Meeting, said John Bonifaz, the co-founder and president of Free Speech For People, which is one of two organizations leading the impeachment charge.

The Cambridge City Council has also approved an impeachment resolution. The Los Angeles City Council approved one last week and several more California communities are expected to take it up soon as well, Bonifaz said.

Bonifaz said the firing Tuesday of FBI Director James Comey adds new urgency to beginning the impeachment process.

He said the firing impedes the criminal investigation of alleged Russian meddling in the US election. Comey was investigating whether there were ties between Trump's campaign and Russia.

With the firing, Trump has "engaged in the obstruction of justice. That demonstrates we must forward with this impeachment investigation," Bonifaz said Thursday.

That firing "dramatically worsens what already was a dangerous situation. It has highlighted the basis for the need for impeachment."

Bonifaz said the move to impeach had been based on whether Trump, through his business holdings -- 111 in 18 countries -- has violated the U.S. Constitution's foreign and domestic Emoluments Clause, and other federal laws.

The Emoluments Clause in Article I of the Constitution, states: "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state."

McGovern, according to a statement from his office Tuesday before the Comey firing, said the he is "deeply concerned about the growing list of conflicts of interest between the Trump White House and Trump businesses as well as the long list of ties between President Trump and his aides and Russian interference in the 2016 election."

McGovern is "actively pushing for a full investigation into these conflicts of interest and ties to Russia to ensure that Americans get the truth," the statement reads. "That is the first step to determine if any laws have been broken and if there are grounds for impeachment."