Cambridge, Massachusetts has joined a handful of other cities and passed a resolution demanding that Congress impeach President Donald Trump immediately. The call for impeachment is based upon a conflict of interest relating to Trump's business interests while serving as President, which is prohibited under the Constitution. Trump, whose rants on Twitter claiming that President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower have continued, resigned from "all" of his business interests the day before is inauguration as President.
Trump's positions and business holdings
As reality has it, Trump did not give up his business interests, per se. He resigned from managerial and "hands-on control" of his business interests, but he still retained ownership of his business interests. Trump, who was visited by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes after he "viewed" classified documents on White House grounds, even went so far as to hand over control of his business interests to his sons Eric and Donald Trump, Jr. And so even though Trump does not have direct, "hands-on control" of his business interests for the duration of his presidency, he has a close, working relationship with those who do, namely his two sons.
This is why the Cambridge City Council has reservations about Trump's business interests.
It is not as if Trump has turned control of his business interests over to impartial entities. He has turned over his business interests to his two sons, over whom he has emotional and psychological control. The situation is analogous to one in which the pilot has turned over the plane's yoke wheel and controls to the co-pilot while still sitting in the cockpit and giving directives to the copilot.
The Emoluments Clauses
According to the Cambridge City Council's resolution, Trump is in violation of the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses of the United States Constitution. As the situation stands now, Trump still is attaining a profit, or emolument, from his domestic and foreign business interests even though he has turned over the management and control of such interests over to his sons.
Under the Constitution, the grounds for impeaching the President must be "high crimes or misdemeanors." Whether or not a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution rises to the level of a "high crime and misdemeanor," remains to be seen. In the meantime, a colonial Massachusetts city will send its Trump impeachment resolution to Congress and America will see what transpires. Whatever happens, it promises to be interesting.
