Richmond’s to-do list is a mile long these days. The Bay Area suburb is on the brink of fiscal insolvency, driven in part by a crushing public pension crisis. Crime and poverty continue to plague its residents and city services have been put on the chopping block. But that won’t stop city leaders from taking on Donald Trump.
In an unanimous decision, the Richmond City Council passed a resolution asking the U.S. House of Representatives to investigate impeaching President Donald Trump for not selling off his business interests after assuming the nation’s highest office.
The resolution is the first such move by a city, according to the activists who spearheaded the effort. It’s also symbolic in nature and unlikely to go anywhere. Still, backers say that it’s an important step to voice their concerns about the new president’s conflicts of interest and the direction he is taking the country.
Richmond is claiming the President has violated the Constitution’s “Emoluments Clause,” barring members of government from accepting gifts from foreign states without consent of Congress. Trump’s many business dealings overseas violate this principle, Richmond’s resolution claims.
Legal scholars differ on what constitutes “emoluments” and the issue has never been seriously tested in the Courts. Given its dubiousness and the current Republican majority in Congress, Richmond’s resolution has no conceivable chance of succeeding. But it's also not that surprising. The working class town in the Eastern San Francisco Bay has become a noted champion of progressive causes in recent years, even rivaling the liberal bastion of Berkeley.