“I appreciate that the Committee has responded with speed to the resolution offering the support of the City of Los Angeles for any legislative action leading to the investigation of whether or not our President is in violation of the ‘Emoluments Clause” of the US Constitution.
This is a crisis in our democracy with no precedent.
President Donald Trump has been violating his oath to faithfully execute his office and defend and uphold the US Constitution since he was in sworn in with his hand on a bible, while the whole world watched.
And he’s getting away with it.
(I know you’ve received the analysis recently completed by George W. Bush and Barack Obama’s Chief Ethics lawyers and Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe – so if there’s doubt that President Trump is getting away with violating the Constitution, please have a look at their analysis.)
If we cannot as a country unite around the national security need to uncover the full scope of those foreign and domestic actors from whom our president is receiving emoluments, and what those nations or individuals have gotten or expect to get in return;
If we cannot come together to insist that the US Constitution also applies to President Trump;
If, by our inaction, we affirm that flagrant and unapologetic disregard for America’s founding document is to be tolerated then we may as well put the Constitution in the shredder – or worse, watch as it shrivels to become a crusty artifact of the lost promise of America.
We will need to bridge the gap between partisanship and patriotism in order to uphold the promise of our Constitution. Can that bridge find builders here in Los Angeles?
I ask for the Committee’s unanimous vote to advance this resolution to the full Council.
Thank you.”
Remarks before the L.A. City Council, April 28, 2017
Given by Michele Sutter of MOVI and a member of the West Valley Resistance