Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel attacked GOP Rep. Justin Amash for declaring that President Trump “has engaged in impeachable conduct.”
McDaniel accused Amash of “parroting the Democrats’ talking points on Russia” after the Michigan Republican tweeted about special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Amash wrote on Saturday that after reading the full public report and researching the matter further with his staff, he believes that Trump obstructed justice during the course of the investigation.
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
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
McDaniel responded in a statement: “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. Voters in Amash’s district strongly support this President, and would rather their Congressman work to support the President’s policies that have brought jobs, increased wages and made life better for Americans.”
In the Saturday tweet thread, in which he suggested Trump should be impeached, Amash wrote that the Constitution requires “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.”
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
Trump himself lashed out at Amash on Sunday, arguing that he could not obstruct justice if the investigation he may have obstructed found no other crime.
“Anyway, how do you Obstruct when there is no crime and, in fact, the crimes were committed by the other side?” wrote Trump. “Justin is a loser who sadly plays right into our opponents hands!”
….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
