In what is a national first, the Richmond California City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting impeachment of Trump last night. The resolution was brought to their attention by Ellen Faden of the Richmond Our Revolution group and introduced by City Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin. It was introduced and passed all in one meeting. The resolution was drafted by Free Speech for People, an advocacy organization that works to get money out of politics and started an impeachment petition on January 20, which now has over 880,000 signatures. Their petition site is here. A copy of the resolution is here.

One resolution in support of impeachment will do no more than generate a few stories in the press. But hundreds of resolutions passed by cities and counties in every state will generate some real pressure on Congress to actually impeach. I am calling on each of you to get one passed where you live.

The key issue in the resolution is that Trump is in violation of the foreign and domestic emoluments clauses of the Constitution. The foreign clause forbids any “Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States]” from accepting any “any present emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State” unless Congress explicitly consents. More about that here. The domestic emoluments clause prohibits the President from receiving, on top of his salary, “any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.” More about that here. The rationale behind both is to prevent the President from having a divided view on any domestic or foreign policy issue. It is important for him to only deal with what is best for the nation and not the President's private profit. The foreign emoluments clause is also to prevent our nation to get entangled with the interests of other countries.

While Trump has stepped away from day-to-day decision-making of his businesses, his sons now run them and he still receives profit. There is nearly unanimous agreement among those knowledgeable of government ethics that he is still in violation of both clauses. As you undoubtedly are aware Trump's businesses have operations in many of our states and many other nations. Every day that we allow Trump to stay in office does further damage to our history and the precedent that the Chief Executive cannot use his decision-making powers for personal profit. That is why Our Revolution Richmond introduced this resolution and why it so easily passed.

In the country, public opinion is shifting rapidly in support of impeachment. From mid-January to mid-February, PPP, in three separate polls, asked about support for impeachment. In just three weeks support went from 35% in the first poll to 46% in the third. In that last poll, those opposed were also 46%. Link to PPP.

Two final thoughts. First, I remember John Conyers, who was in Congress in 1974, saying that in January of that year, only a handful of members favored impeachment. Eight months later, he was gone.

Second, Robert Reich recently recounted a conversation he had with a Republican friend who is an ex-member of Congress:

Him: So the moment Trump does something really dumb – steps over the line – violates the law in a big stupid clumsy way … and you know he will ... Me: They impeach him? Him: You bet. They pull the trigger. Full conversation here. If you have not yet done so, sign the petition. And I repeat my call to action: One resolution in support of impeachment will do no more than generate a few stories in the press. But hundreds of resolutions passed by cities and counties in every state will generate some real pressure on Congress to actually impeach. I am calling on each of you to get one passed where you live.