Newton To Vote On Trump Impeachment Investigation Resolution

NEWTON, MA — Tonight, on the steps of City Hall a number of Newton residents will once again rally in an effort to impress upon city councilors to vote to pass a resolution calling for an impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump to be launched in the House of Representatives. And unlike last time, where a vote was postponed, their hope is that Newton City Council will vote.

The full Council is scheduled to vote on the measure at its meeting tonight after the question was chartered at the last meeting. Petitioners and rally goers say Trump is violating the U.S. Constitution by profiting from business deals involving foreign governments — and doing so without congressional consent: A violation of the Constitution's Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clause. The resolution also notes obstruction of justice allegations prompted by Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey.

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Should Newton pass the resolution calling for an investigation into impeachment it would join the likes of not only neighboring Brookline and Cambridge but Los Angeles and Oakland, CA and nine other cities across the country. (( Spoiler alert: Newton votes to support the investigation))

Ben Clements, former federal prosecutor, former Chief Legal Counsel to Deval Patrick, and founding member of Impeach Donald Trump Now and Free Speech for People, the national nonpartisan groups behind the local resolution movement, said that City Councilors take the same oath as members of Congress to support and defend the Constitution, and urged them to take that oath to heart when they vote on the resolution.

“We’re already seeing the dangers of a president who believes that he is above the law. The long term damage to our constitutional democracy of Congress failing to hold accountable a president who willfully and repeatedly defies the law and the Constitution is incalculable,” said Clements in a statement.

A number of city councilors support the effort.

"I support this resolution because it demands that Congress judge the evidence on impeachment. All we are asking is that Congress do its job —a full and impartial investigation," said Councilor Ruthanne Fuller and mayoral candidate. “ Many of our constituents are deeply concerned about the President and his behavior both during the campaign and since his inauguration; so it’s incumbent on the Newton City Council to do its job and address this petition on the merits. ”

City Councilor Emily Norton also indicated her support for the resolution.

“Gandhi said, ‘When the people act, the leaders will follow.’ We have a president who is brazenly disregarding the law and those with the authority to stop him are not doing so," she said in an emailed statement.

The vote comes on the heals of the resignation of the nation's ethics chief, which according to Newton resident Leo Hannenberg, of the activist group RiseUpMA, makes it all the more pertinent.

“We’re asking our local elected officials to help raise the alarm and restore the principle that nobody is above the law in the United States," said Hannenberg in a statement.

Organizer Clements will speak at the 7 p.m. rally. Other speakers include former Newton mayor David B. Cohen, City Councilor and mayoral candidate Amy Mah Sangiolo, City Councilor City Councilor Ted Hess-Mahan, and leaders of several sponsoring local Indivisible groups, according to a press release.

Currently, there are no congressional investigations looking into impeachable offenses though a group of almost 200 lawmakers are suing the president based on similar accusations, including Newton Congressman Rep. Joe Kennedy III.

In other developments since June 7, when the Newton resolution was recommended to the full Council by a 5-1 vote of the Programs and Services Committee, at least 25 Democrats have also introduced a bill that could lead to impeachment via the 25th Amendment. Two Congressmen, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), are also circulating articles of impeachment.

The organization Impeach Donald Trump Now recently delivered a petition to Congress calling for an impeachment investigation. As of July 10, 1,145,531 people had signed this petition.

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