Politics

Trump slams Republican Amash over impeachment call: 'A total lightweight who opposes me'

Key Points
  • Amash, a libertarian who often goes against Republican orthodoxy, broke with his party over the weekend to call for impeachment, arguing that Congress risked encouraging future presidential misconduct if it did not live up to its constitutional duty.
  • Though Amash has broken with the Republican Party, it's unlikely that many GOP Congress members will follow his lead. 
  • Sen. Mitt Romney, who has repeatedly and publicly criticized Trump's conduct, called Amash's stance "courageous" but said he does not believe the Mueller report establishes obstruction of justice and impeachment is not realistic. 
President Donald Trump speaks to workers at the Cameron LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) Export Facility in Hackberry, Louisiana, May 14, 2019.
Leah Millis | Reuters

President Donald Trump on Sunday lashed out at Republican Rep. Justin Amash over his call for Trump to face impeachment for allegedly committing obstruction of justice.

Amash, a libertarian who often goes against Republican orthodoxy, broke with his party over the weekend to call for impeachment, arguing that Congress risked encouraging future misconduct if it did not live up to its constitutional duty.

Trump said Amash "opposes me" and accused him of trying to garner name recognition by stirring controversy. He again claimed that the Mueller report found "no collusion" and "no obstruction."

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,....

In fact, Mueller did not investigate collusion, which has no legal definition. The special counsel documented extensive ties between Trump campaign officials and Russians, but concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to establish a conspiracy or coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election.

On the question of obstruction, Mueller did not reach a conclusion, but pointedly declined to exonerate the president. His investigation documented numerous instances in which the president may have attempted to obstruct justice. Amash cited these instances as the reason for his call for impeachment.

Though Amash has broken with the Republican Party, it's unlikely many GOP members of Congress will follow his lead. The party has stood firmly behind Trump in the wake of Mueller's findings.

Sen. Mitt Romney, who has repeatedly and publicly criticized Trump's conduct, called Amash's stance "courageous" but said he does not believe the Mueller report establishes obstruction of justice and impeachment is not realistic.

"I just don't think there is the full element you need to prove an obstruction of justice case," says Sen. Romney. 

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