On Saturday, GOP Rep. Justin Amash took major heat from Republicans and conservatives after calling for the impeachment of President Trump.
Amash maintains that the president has committed “impeachable offenses” and these claims prompted intense responses from both conservatives and President Trump himself, as documented by The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Why Does Amash Believe Trump Should be Impeached?
Typically, calls for the president’s impeachment come from far-left radical Democrats. However, Amash is one of the few “never Trump” Republicans who believe that impeachment is warranted and necessary.
Despite the plethora of faults within this logic, Amash explained his reasoning in the following tweets:
Here are my principal conclusions:
1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report.
2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.
3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances.
4. Few members of Congress have read the report.— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
I offer these conclusions only after having read Mueller’s redacted report carefully and completely, having read or watched pertinent statements and testimony, and having discussed this matter with my staff, who thoroughly reviewed materials and provided me with further analysis.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
In comparing Barr’s principal conclusions, congressional testimony, and other statements to Mueller’s report, it is clear that Barr intended to mislead the public about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s analysis and findings.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
It’s worth noting that Amash is not the only politician to direct criticism towards Attorney General William Barr. However, this manner of criticism generally comes from the left side of the political aisle.
Nevertheless, Amash’s statements continue:
Barr’s misrepresentations are significant but often subtle, frequently taking the form of sleight-of-hand qualifications or logical fallacies, which he hopes people will not notice.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
Under our Constitution, the president “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” While “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” is not defined, the context implies conduct that violates the public trust.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
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.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
This logic is questionable at best. Which “specific actions” and “pattern of behavior” is Amash referring to? Mueller’s Russia probe remained ongoing for nearly two years; never throughout any time of the probe did Mueller come up with a shred of evidence that the president colluded with the Russian government in order to win the 2016 election. Mueller also couldn’t prove that Trump obstructed justice during the probe, much to the chagrin of Democrats.
Still, there’s more from Amash:
In fact, Mueller’s report identifies multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice, and undoubtedly any person who is not the president of the United States would be indicted based on such evidence.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
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.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
While impeachment should be undertaken only in extraordinary circumstances, the risk we face in an environment of extreme partisanship is not that Congress will employ it as a remedy too often but rather that Congress will employ it so rarely that it cannot deter misconduct.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
Amash concluded his statements with four more tweets to explain why he believes the system of checks-and-balances and the Constitution merits the impeachment of President Trump.
Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up.
Our system of checks and balances relies on each branch’s jealously guarding its powers and upholding its duties under our Constitution. When loyalty to a political party or to an individual trumps loyalty to the Constitution, the Rule of Law—the foundation of liberty—crumbles.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
We’ve witnessed members of Congress from both parties shift their views 180 degrees—on the importance of character, on the principles of obstruction of justice—depending on whether they’re discussing Bill Clinton or Donald Trump.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
Few members of Congress even read Mueller’s report; their minds were made up based on partisan affiliation—and it showed, with representatives and senators from both parties issuing definitive statements on the 448-page report’s conclusions within just hours of its release.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
America’s institutions depend on officials to uphold both the rules and spirit of our constitutional system even when to do so is personally inconvenient or yields a politically unfavorable outcome. Our Constitution is brilliant and awesome; it deserves a government to match it.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
Reactions to Amash’s Statements
Many conservatives openly spoke out against the Michigan representative in light of his commentary. However, Democrats were more than thrilled to sing Amash’s praises. It’s amazing to see how Democrats will go from slandering virtually all Republicans to openly embracing anyone on the right-wing who comes out as anti-Trump. It defies all logic and reason, but that’s never stopped the Democrats.
The president had words for Amash also, slamming the Michigan representative and professing that Amash is only criticizing him for the sake of self-promotion.
Never a fan of @justinamash, a total lightweight who opposes me and some of our great Republican ideas and policies just for the sake of getting his name out there through controversy. If he actually read the biased Mueller Report, “composed” by 18 Angry Dems who hated Trump,….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2019
….he would see that it was nevertheless strong on NO COLLUSION and, ultimately, NO OBSTRUCTION…Anyway, how do you Obstruct when there is no crime and, in fact, the crimes were committed by the other side? Justin is a loser who sadly plays right into our opponents hands!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2019
What do you think about Amash’s calls for impeachment? Let us know in the comments section below!
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