Local governments in 10 cities have applied to Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, Politico reports. Brookline, Massachusetts, became the 10th city and latest one to launch impeachment proceedings against Trump.
The Massachusetts towns of Cambridge, Amherst, Pelham and Leverett have already made the proposal. In California, the impeachment was supported by Los Angeles, Richmond, Alameda, and Berkeley.
Strong words by Alderman Ameya Pawar for Trump
In Chicago, a proposal prepared by Pawar has already been signed by 31 members of the city council.
During his interview with Politico, Pawar used very strong words about Trump. In his statement, he called him a "racist, bigot and a misogynist."
Politico mentioned that the purpose of such activity by local self-government bodies that do not have powers in the matter of impeachment, is to convince Congress to take the first step towards the impeachment procedure against Trump.
The impeachment calls for the prosecution of federal employees (including the U.S. president) accused of treason, bribery or other serious crimes and violations. If Congress agrees on the need for impeachment, a voting process will start in the House of Representatives, where the decision will be taken by the simple majority.
Then the voting process will be held in the Senate, which must recruit at least two-thirds of the votes to approve the necessary decision.
Bonifaz's statement
According to John Bonifaz, the constitutional lawyer who heads the Free Speech for People group, they have already collected hundreds of thousands of signatures for impeachment -- without even investing in this campaign or appeals in the digital world.
The number of signatures rose by more than 1 million after the recent call of Texas Democratic Congressman Al Green to support the impeachment procedure.
Impeachment had been initiated three times in the history of the US
In the US, the impeachment procedure for the head of state had been initiated three times. In 1868, President Andrew Johnson was accused of the illegal removal of the War Minister.
Another involved Bill Clinton, on December 19, 1998, for perjury and obstruction of justice, but both presidents were acquitted by the Senate. An impeachment process against Richard Nixon was formally initiated on February 6, 1974, and he resigned before the Senate hearings began. He was threatened with impeachment in connection with a huge political scandal, dubbed "Watergate."
