Representative Justin Amash is the first member of the House GOP to call for the constitutional remedy for high crimes and misdemeanors.
On Saturday, Representative Justin Amash became the first Republican member of Congress to suggest that President Trump should be impeached for his misdeeds, a stand that puts him at odds with the GOP and risks his future in the party.
For nine years, the libertarian-leaning Michigander has been an unusually principled and independent-minded pol, breaking partisan ranks whenever he felt the Constitution demanded it. He used Twitter to lay out his conclusions about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, Attorney General William Barr’s characterizations of that report, the portions that have not been released to the public, and his belief that many of his fellow lawmakers are not fully informed about the matter.
His principal conclusions:
About those claims, he stressed, “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.”
He came away regarding Barr as a liar:
Then he turned to the question of impeachment, fretting that failing to use it in the face of presidential misconduct would lead to more high crimes and misdemeanors:
Finally, he turned to his colleagues in Congress, observing, “Our system of checks and balances relies on each branch’s jealously guarding its powers and upholding its duties under our Constitution.
