PRINTER'S NO. 1920
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
395
Session of
2018
INTRODUCED BY HAYWOOD, JUNE 22, 2018
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, JUNE 22, 2018
A RESOLUTION
Urging the United States House of Representatives to immediately
consider and adopt articles of impeachment against President
Donald J. Trump.
WHEREAS, The founding fathers drafted and signed the
Constitution of the United States which enables the Congress of
the United States to investigate and sanction certain conduct
committed by high public officials of the United States; and
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States specifically
provides for the power to impeach and the procedures for the
removal of the President of the United States; and
WHEREAS, Section 4 of Article II of the Constitution of the
United States provides that, "The President, Vice President and
all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from
Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery,
or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors"; and
WHEREAS, Clause 5 of section 2 of Article I of the
Constitution of the United States provides that "The House of
Representatives * * * shall have the sole Power of Impeachment";
and
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WHEREAS, Clause 6 of section 3 of Article I of the
Constitution of the United States provides that "The Senate
shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting
for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the
President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall
preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the
Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present"; and
WHEREAS, Clause 7 of section 3 of Article I of the
Constitution of the United States provides that "Judgment in
Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal
from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office
of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party
convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to
Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law";
and
WHEREAS, President Donald J. Trump, also known as David
Dennison, has been accused of preventing, obstructing and
impeding the administration of justice, abuse of office,
dereliction of duty, being unfit for office, corruption and
malfeasance requiring the immediate attention and investigation
of the Congress of the United States through an impeachment
inquiry; and
WHEREAS, The following violations of President Trump should
subject him to investigation under the impeachment authority of
Congress of the United States:
(1) on or about January 27, 2017, President Trump abused
his office and attempted to corrupt the administration of
justice by asking then-Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), James Comey, who was overseeing the
investigation of the Trump campaign for collusion with Russia
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in the 2016 Presidential campaign, among other crimes, for a
"pledge of loyalty";
(2) on or about February 14, 2017, President Trump
attempted to corrupt, impede and obstruct the administration
of justice by asking James Comey to "let this go," referring
to the criminal investigation of President Trump's National
Security Advisor and campaign adviser Michael Flynn;
(3) on or about March 22, 2017, President Trump
attempted to corrupt, impede and obstruct justice by asking
the Director of National Intelligence, Daniel Coats, and
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Michael Pompeo,
to persuade James Comey to "back off" investigating Michael
Flynn;
(4) President Trump attempted to corrupt, impede and
prevent the administration of justice by telling James Comey
during several phone calls in March and April of 2017 that he
wanted James Comey to lift the "cloud" of the Russia
investigation;
(5) on or about May 9, 2017, President Trump attempted
to corrupt, impede and obstruct the administration of justice
by firing James Comey as Director of the FBI due to his
investigation of the Trump campaign's collusion with Russia
in the 2016 presidential campaign, and President Trump told
Russian officials on May 10, 2017, that the firing had "taken
off" the "great pressure" of the Russia investigation and
told NBC News on May 11, 2017, that the firing was because of
"this Russia thing";
(6) President Trump attempted to corrupt and impede the
administration of justice asking United States Attorney
General Jefferson Sessions to intervene in the criminal
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investigation of the Trump campaign after Attorney General
Sessions had recused himself on advice of ethics officials
within the United States Department of Justice;
(7) President Trump attempted to corrupt the
administration of justice by ordering the firing of Special
Counsel Robert Mueller, who is overseeing the Russia
investigation, but White House Counsel Donald McGahn refused
to carry out that directive in June 2017;
(8) President Trump may have obstructed justice by
helping to draft a false public statement for his son, Donald
Trump, Jr., on July 8, 2017, claiming that a 2016 meeting
with a Russian lawyer was about adoption policy, and Donald
Trump, Jr., later acknowledged that the meeting was to
discuss damaging information which the Russian government had
about former Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton;
(9) on or about July 26, 2017, President Trump attempted
to corrupt and impede the administration of justice by the
firing of then-Deputy Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, and
the demand for the firing was reportedly part of a campaign
to discredit a potential corroborating witness regarding
James Comey's conversations with President Trump;
(10) President Trump has been derelict in his duty to
defend the United States against all foreign enemies by
consistently taking no action to prevent or punish Russian or
other foreign interference in the 2016 presidential
elections, despite repeated warnings by the highest ranking
intelligence officials of concerns for the integrity of the
2018 elections and beyond;
(11) President Trump demonstrates gross unfitness for
office by frequently making false and misleading public
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statements for the purpose of deceiving the people of the
United States, and the New York Times and the Washington Post
have compiled more than 2,000 false or misleading statements
made by President Trump to date, including, among others, the
repeated false statements about American intelligence
agencies' investigations and conclusions regarding Russia's
role in the 2016 election;
(12) President Trump has abused his office by continuing
to accept payments from foreign governments to his hotels and
other business operations in potential violation of the
emoluments clause under clause 8 of section 9 of Article I of
the Constitution of the United States, which states that "no
Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them
shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any
present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever,
from any King, Prince, or foreign State";
(13) President Trump has abused his office by targeting
vulnerable minority and immigrant populations, including
issuance of an unconstitutional travel ban preventing
citizens from majority-Muslim nations from entering the
United States, making offensive and derogatory comments about
immigrant populations from non-European countries and
refusing to disavow white nationalist movements throughout
the United States and the world;
(14) President Trump, through his continued malfeasance
and abuse of office, has threatened democratic norms,
institutions and the rule of law, with a propaganda campaign
against the United State Department of Justice, the FBI and
the free press, and the President has pledged to review libel
laws and proposed to use the Federal Communications
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Commission to revoke licenses of news outlets which he deems
unsympathetic, in addition to using the powers of the
presidency to attack Federal judges, law enforcement agencies
and government officials with charges that are untruthful and
without merit; and
(15) President Trump, also known as David Dennison, is
patently unfit for office, as proven by his condoning and
actively participating in unethical and immoral conduct that
renders him unfit for office, authorizing illicit payments
via intermediaries to conceal personal improprieties,
elevating immediate family members to high government office,
promoting his personal businesses and properties in his
official capacity as President and selling access to the
highest bidder by making himself available to members of his
private resorts while increasing membership fees for his own
personal enrichment;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
urge the United States House of Representatives to immediately
consider and adopt articles of impeachment against President
Donald J. Trump; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a certified copy of this resolution be
transmitted to the Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives and to each member of the Pennsylvania
delegation to the Congress of the United States.
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