On May 18, 2019, U.S. Representative Justin Amash declared on social media that President Donald J. Trump has “engaged in impeachable conduct” according to TheBlaze. At first glance, this proclamation might not seem like anything out of the ordinary. After all, liberal lawmakers have been desperate to impeach the President ever since he took office. Astonishingly, Amash is a Republican. Predictably, the Michigan lawmaker’s remarks have been praised by those on the left and excoriated by those on the right, including the President.
Besides condemning Trump, Amash also bashed Attorney General William Barr for “deliberately misrepresent[ing] Mueller’s report.” The Michigan Representative made his allegation in a long Twitter thread after comprehensively reviewing the Mueller report, examining “pertinent statements and testimony,” and fully talking about the issue with his staff. Amash’s controversial tweets immediately sent shock waves throughout the country.
So, what exactly did the Republican lawmaker say? Amash tweeted, “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.”
Concerning the Attorney General, Amash remarked, “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…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.”
Amash had a lot to say about impeachment. He began his tirade by tweeting, “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.” The Michigan Representative also commented, “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.”
Explaining, Amash stated, “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.”
Taking a shot at his congressional colleagues on Capital Hill, Amash tweeted, “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.”
As usual, Trump wasted no time responding to one of his critics. On May 19, 2019, the President tweeted, “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…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!”
Responding to Amash’s tweet firestorm with a tweet of her own on May 18, 2019, the Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, said, “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 @realDonaldTrump hoping to defeat him in 2020 by any desperate means possible.” According to Fox News, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican – California, commented that Amash merely “wants to have attention.”
Less than two days after Amash voiced his support for the impeachment of the President, Michigan state Representative Jim Lower, a fellow Republican, announced his intentions to challenge him in the upcoming primary. According to WWMT, Lower stated, “Amash has not only failed to support President Trump as the President works to make the United States stronger and safer, he has now united with radical liberals like Democratic Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib to try and bring down our President. He must be replaced and I am going to do it.”
~ Conservative Zone
