San Francisco Supes To Consider Resolution Urging Trump's Impeachment
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – San Francisco Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer introduced a resolution Tuesday during a news conference on the steps of City Hall formally calling on Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings on President Donald Trump for obstruction of justice and other offenses.
Fewer argued that Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey constituted obstruction of justice, that he colluded with the Russian government to win the 2016 presidential election and that he has violated the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution—which prohibits elected officials from taking gifts or payoffs from foreign governments—by refusing to distance himself from his family's business interests.
"It is time now that we call for the impeachment of Donald J. Trump," Fewer said.
Fewer said it's not just that Trump has emboldened racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic groups targeting the Bay Area or instilled fear in the immigrant community by increasing immigration enforcement sweeps. It's also that he's unfit for office, she said.
• ALSO READ: Billionaire Steyer Launches Ad Campaign Urging Trump Impeachment
She also pointed out the administration's disastrous response to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria and Trump's pardon of controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt for violating a court order, which met with boos from the audience.
"He is trying to redefine who we are as Americans," Fewer said.
While some have expressed concerns that a President Mike Pence might be even worse, Fewer said the looming threat of nuclear war with North Korea justifies the risk.
"If Trump is impeached and we are left with Pence, we will fight Pence on," Fewer said. "That is a fight we know how to fight and we can win."
"But this, my friends, is not normal." she added. "This is completely unacceptable. This is a threat to the world we live in, so today we call for impeachment."
The resolution was written with advocacy groups Brightline Defense Project and Pangea Legal Services.
Esperanza Cuautle of Pangea Legal Services also addressed the crowd, starting off by acknowledging that she's an undocumented immigrant protected under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
"I know that I'm not safe, and neither is my family," Cuautle said.
"Bay Area cities that offer sanctuary protections to immigrants are being targeted. ICE is using more aggressive tactics to apprehend individuals than before, stalking families, raiding apartment buildings and openly engaging in collateral arrests," she said.
This is having adverse impacts on the well-being of the immigrant community, Cuautle added.
Supervisors Hillary Ronen, Ahsha Safai and Jeff Sheehy also spoke on behalf of the resolution.
The real heart of the issue, according to Sheehy, is that Trump has broken the law with impunity.
"Let's face it, the man is mentally ill," Sheehy said. "And he has his finger on the nuclear button."
"Remember nuclear winter," Sheehy said. "A nuclear exchange destroys the planet, and yet that is where we are headed today, and if congress cannot find the will to impeach him they're dooming our planet to extinction."
"We have to build a national movement, because our very lives are at stake," Sheehy said.
There were roughly 100 or more demonstrators at Tuesday afternoon's rally, many of whom joined supervisors on the steps of city hall with banners and signs saying "Make America Great Again: Impeach Donald Trump" and "The Trump Pence Regime Must Go."
In between scheduled speakers, they chanted "Forty-five has got to go!" and "Fire 45."
The resolution includes a total of seven co-sponsors, including supervisors Katy Tang, London Breed, Mark Farrell and Jane Kim. It goes before the full board for a vote on Oct. 31.
© Copyright 2017 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
