One of the first and most vocal #NeverTrump members of Congress, Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) is now making headlines as “the first Republican” to call for President Trump’s impeachment.
So far, there is no indication at all that he is “first,” it seems more likely he is the “lone” Republican making such a call. Even Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) stated Sunday that the case for impeachment “just isn’t there.”
Michigan Rep. Justin Amash became the first Republican lawmaker to declare that President Donald Trump committed impeachable offenses and that Attorney General William Barr “deliberately misrepresented” special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.Amash, whose libertarian views often put him at odds with Trump and his fellow Republicans, posted a series of tweets Saturday afternoon outlining positions that even some Democrats have been unwilling to embrace — an extraordinary development that comes as Democratic leaders face increasing pressure from progressives to launch impeachment proceedings.“Contrary to Barr’s portrayal, Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment,” Amash wrote, arguing that lawmakers have become too afraid of using impeachment to deter presidential misconduct.“Impeachment, which is a special form of indictment, does not even require probable cause that a crime (e.g., obstruction of justice) has been committed; it simply requires a finding that an official has engaged in careless, abusive, corrupt, or otherwise dishonorable conduct,” Amash wrote.
Needless to say, the president is not happy.
Nor is Republican leadership.
Republican leaders on Sunday joined Trump in criticizing Amash. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called Amash’s comments “very disturbing,” arguing that the lawmaker is “not a criminal attorney. He’s never met Mueller. He’s never met Barr.”
“Those who know Justin Amash, this is exactly what he wants. He wants to have attention,” McCarthy said in an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
McCarthy also took aim at Amash’s record as a lawmaker.
“I think he’s only asked one question in all the committees he’s been in,” McCarthy said. “He votes more with [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi than he ever votes with me.”
The Republican National Committee (RNC) also condemned Amash’s Twitter statement.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) blasted Amash’s tweets about the Mueller report Saturday evening in a statement, accusing him of “parroting” Democratic talking points.“It’s sad to see Congressman Amash parroting the Democrats’ talking points on Russia. The only people still fixated on the Russia collusion hoax are political foes of President Trump hoping to defeat him in 2020 by any desperate means possible,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel.
In fact, most of Amash’s fellow #NeverTrump pals in Congress have yet to comment on his assertion. Romney, however, stated on Jake Tapper’s State of the Union Sunday that the case for impeachment “just isn’t there.”
Watch the segment:
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