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SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, On January 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump took the oath
3of office and became President of the United States; at that
4time, he reiterated that he would be "A President for all
5Americans"; and
 
6    WHEREAS, There are considerable ethical concerns in terms
7of the election and Donald Trump's selected staff; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Our democracy is premised on the bedrock principle
9that no one is above the law, not even the President of the
10United States; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Donald J. Trump has attempted on two separate
12occasions to undermine this nation's Constitution by
13instituting travel bans targeting specific ethnic and
14religious minorities; and
 
15    WHEREAS, A recent rise in anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim
16rhetoric and criminal activity has been attributed to Americans
17that fervently support the Trump administration and have noted
18that Trump's nationalist rhetoric has emboldened them to carry
19out their hateful missions; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The Trump business empire has been embroiled in

 

 

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1questionable business dealings, and Donald J. Trump has refused
2to release various financial records and documents concerning
3his personal income, along with that of his business; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The Domestic Emoluments Clause of the United
5States Constitution provides that, besides the fixed salary for
6his or her four-year term, the President "shall not receive
7within that Period any other Emolument from the United States,
8or any of them"; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The term "emoluments" includes a broad range of
10financial benefits, including but not limited to monetary
11payments, purchase of goods and services even for fair market
12value, subsidies, tax breaks, extensions of credit, and
13favorable regulatory treatment; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Leading constitutional scholars and government
15ethics experts warned Donald J. Trump shortly after the
16November 2016 election that, unless he fully divested his
17businesses and invested the money in conflict-free assets or a
18blind trust, he would violate the Constitution from the moment
19he took office; and
 
20    WHEREAS, On January 11, 2017, nine days before his
21inauguration, Donald J. Trump announced a plan that would, if
22carried out, remove him from day-to-day operations of his

 

 

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1businesses but not eliminate any of the ongoing flow of
2emoluments from foreign governments, state governments, or the
3United States government; and
 
4    WHEREAS, From the moment he took office, President Trump
5was in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause and the
6Domestic Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution;
7and
 
8    WHEREAS, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
9Washington has filed a federal lawsuit against Donald J. Trump
10alleging that his "business interests are creating countless
11conflicts of interest, as well as unprecedented influence by
12foreign governments"; and
 
13    WHEREAS, As Donald Trump has repeatedly attempted to thwart
14investigations into his personal business dealings, he has also
15obstructed similar attempts to examine the Trump
16Administration's ties to representatives of hostile foreign
17nations; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In May of 2017, Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI
19Director James Comey as Mr. Comey began to intensify the
20Bureau's investigation into alleged Russian interference in
21the 2016 General Election and the possibility of collaboration
22with the Trump campaign; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, During a meeting at the White House on May 10,
22017, Donald J. Trump appears to have leaked highly classified
3information to Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian
4Federation Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador of the Russian
5Federation to the United States Sergey Kislyak; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Donald Trump made a series of false claims about
7immigration, such as stating that open borders bring tremendous
8crime, while undocumented immigrants, in truth, commit crimes
9at a lower rate than U.S. citizens; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Donald Trump has used fearmongering to claim that
11a wall will stop drugs from coming across the country's
12borders, when most illegal drugs come through legal points of
13entry; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Donald Trump has lied to the media about his plans
15to build a wall stretching over 400 miles, while signing
16spending bills only allowing for fencing; and
 
17    WHEREAS, More than 20 immigrants have died in ICE detention
18centers in the past two years; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Donald Trump has falsely stated that the tax
20reforms he championed included the largest tax cuts ever

 

 

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1passed, when, in reality, the cuts are smaller than two tax
2cuts passed under Barack Obama; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Donald Trump's slogan, "Make America Great
4Again," promotes white supremacy, which is a racist belief that
5white people are superior to people of other races and
6therefore should be dominant over them; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Donald Trump infringed on civil rights and
8insulted service members with his ban on transgender
9individuals enlisting in the military; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Donald Trump took credit for funding the Great
11Lakes Restoration Initiative after initially planning to
12eliminate it; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation
14into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election has resulted in 34
15indictments, seven guilty pleas, and four people in prison so
16far; and
 
17    WHEREAS, In his report, Special Counsel Robert Mueller
18documents multiple instances in which Donald Trump ordered
19others to interfere with or end his investigation; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Special Counsel Robert Mueller stated

 

 

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1definitively that if he had been able to clear the President of
2obstruction of justice then he would have done so; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Donald Trump has told more than 10,000 lies to the
4people of the United States; and
 
5    WHEREAS, These violations truly undermine the integrity of
6the Presidency, corruptly advance the personal wealth of the
7President, and violate the public trust; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Section 4 of Article II of the United States
9Constitution provides, that "The President, Vice President and
10all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from
11Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery,
12or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors"; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
14ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the United
15States House of Representatives to support a resolution
16authorizing and directing the House Committee on the Judiciary
17to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the
18impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States,
19including but not limited to the violations listed herein; and
20be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be

 

 

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1transmitted to all members of the United States Senate, all
2members of the United States House of Representatives, all
3members of the Illinois General Assembly, and the Governor of
4the State of Illinois.