Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., made headlines this week when he said President Trump’s behavior during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation warranted impeachment. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has not only defended Trump from Democrats eager to find wrongdoing, but says the entire special investigation by Robert Mueller reeks of partisan politics or worse, the “Deep State”.
Paul and Amash are two of the most high profile libertarians in Congress. Which is right on Trump and impeachment?
Both.
I should say here that I do not believe the president should be impeached and the entire “Russiagate” mess has turned out to be little more than conspiracy theory fantasy. Still, Amash’s reasoning is sound given his parameters (primarily, no crime being necessary for impeachment).
More importantly, what could be more libertarian than insisting on a high accountability threshold for politicians?
“Justin Amash thinks Donald Trump is guilty of ‘impeachable conduct,’ and he is absolutely right,” writes Reason’s Jacob Sullum. “Impeachable conduct is whatever the House of Representatives decides it is, a point the president’s defenders and some of his critics seem determined to obscure.”
Fox News analyst and staunch libertarian Judge Andrew Napolitano basically said the same thing earlier this month.
“The House impeached Bill Clinton for lying under oath about oral sex,” Sullum continues, “and the conduct described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report is more troubling and consequential, even if it does not amount to a crime that could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”
This threshold for impeachment could also be applied to Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and probably most other presidents. Not surprisingly, some libertarian congressmen did in fact talk about impeaching the last two White House occupants.
But you would be hard pressed to find a single Democrat who thought “independent” counsel Ken Starr’s investigation of President Bill Clinton was anything more than partisan politics, similar to how most Republicans view Mueller’s probe today.
Which helps prove Rand Paul’s point: Haven’t these special counsel investigations become little more than weaponized partisanship? For both parties?
“I think since the very beginning this has been politically motivated and now both sides are doing it,” Paul told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos earlier this month. “It goes back to the Clintons.”
The senator today essentially agrees with what most Democrats believed two decades ago: These special counsel investigations are so partisan-driven they inevitably devolve into witch hunts. He believes they should be done away with altogether.
Eschewing partisanship for principle has long been a libertarian focus.
But Paul’s concern about partisanship isn’t even the most libertarian part of his Russiagate critique: Does the U.S. government spy on Americans without a warrant, even presidential candidates? Does one party use the levers of government, namely the CIA, to gain an advantage over the other in an election year?
Does the “Deep State” have it in for Trump?
“We shouldn’t have people using what a lot of us call the deep state — people with incredible power to spy on Americans — to use that against Americans,” Paul said in March, after the Mueller report turned out to be a dud. “Time to investigate the Obama officials who concocted and spread the Russian conspiracy hoax!” Paul also tweeted during that time.
He’s right. Unelected government officials illegally spying or using other powers to intentionally undermine democratically elected leaders should disturb all Americans.
While it’s hard to fathom every presidency being nothing but impeachment hearings based on congressional whims, holding the executive accountable for potential misdeeds is not a bad idea if done consistently and in a bipartisan fashion.
Likewise, a state so ensconced that it subverts republican democracy is truly worrisome. It’s not unreasonable for libertarians to worry about both. Thankfully, both Paul and Amash are.
So who’s right, Rand Paul or Justin Amash?
Yes.
Jack Hunter (@jackhunter74) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the former political editor of Rare.us and co-authored the 2011 book The Tea Party Goes to Washington with Sen. Rand Paul.
