GOP Rep Breaks With Party: Trump Has Committed Impeachable Offenses

By Ed Scarce — May 18, 2019

Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) finally broke with other Republicans Omertà code of silence on Trump's, and now Barr's, apparent lawless behavior. Amash also went further than some Democrats, in calling for Trump's impeachment.

Source: CNN

Michigan GOP Rep. Justin Amash said Saturday he had concluded President Donald Trump committed "impeachable conduct" and accused Attorney General William Barr of intentionally misleading the public.

Amash's comments recommending Congress pursue obstruction of justice charges against Trump were the first instance of a sitting Republican in Congress calling for Trump's impeachment.

Amash is a rare GOP critic of Trump and previously said Trump's conduct in pressuring then-FBI Director James Comey could merit impeachment. In a Twitter thread on Saturday, Amash said he believed "few members of Congress even read" special counsel Robert Mueller's report and that the report itself established "multiple examples" of Trump committing obstruction of justice.

"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 said in a string of messages on Twitter.

There are over a dozen tweets in all about why he came to this conclusion and felt it was necessary to speak out, when no on else in his party has. S.E. Cupp read them all out on her CNN show tonight.

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

The reviews from mostly liberals and a few 'Never Trump' people were uniformly positive, naturally.

I say this as someone at odds with Amash on lots of issues important to me (and I think to him): All honor to Justin Amash, who has done so much today to set an example of constitutional responsibility and mature, civic discourse.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) May 18, 2019

Republican Congressman from Michigan, Justin Amash, is the first crack in the armor. If all Republicans in Congress would take the time to actually read the Mueller report, they’d be hard pressed to turn away from Trump’s mountain of criminality.

— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) May 18, 2019

Hell of a thread, brother. https://t.co/beXQ6KNWUl

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) May 18, 2019

Everything Justin Amash said in his tweet thread just now is entirely evident to anyone who read the Mueller Report—Trump obstructed justice, his crimes were serious, Barr misled the public, these actions are worthy of impeachment—and it’s incredible he’s the only one saying it.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) May 18, 2019

This thread (worth reading it all) from an honest Republican (who is an attorney) looking at conspicuous facts, and calling them accordingly. How rare! May Justin Amash’s candor become contagious... https://t.co/AJYnqPbPSL

— John Dean (@JohnWDean) May 18, 2019

Justin Amash's Twitter thread, which argues that Trump's conduct is impeachable and that Barr is behaving like a misleading hack for Trump rather than a principled AG, is like jumping into a time machine and seeing something you thought was extinct: a Republican with a spine.

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) May 18, 2019