Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan (pictured) calls for Donald Trump’s impeachment, the first GOP legislator in Washington to do so.
Amash said Saturday via Twitter:
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
Amash noted the diligent efforts of William Barr, appointed in February, to spin the report and to quash any further pursuit of Trump over eight cases of obstruction: “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.”
The Attorney General, after he received Mueller’s report in late March and then just before its publication on April 18, falsely said that it had found “no collusion” between the Trump campaign and transition and Russia.
In fact, the 448-report document details “numerous contacts” between the Trump camp, Moscow, and intermediaries such as WikiLeaks.
Barr did not address substantially the 10 obstruction cases considered by Mueller’s team, but simply said that he disagreed with the Special Counsel’s “legal theories” on obstruction and asserted that there was insufficient evidence.
On March 27, Mueller wrote Barr of his concerns over the effect of misinterpretation of the report. The House Judiciary Committee wants to hear from the former FBI director, but a date has not been set. Reportedly the White House, which has tried to block testimony and documents from witnesses, has formally kept Mueller as Special Counsel to assert executive privilege concerning a Federal Government employee.
Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, also of Michigan, responded to Amash on Saturday:
“.@justinamash come find me in 1628 Longworth. I’ve got an impeachment investigation resolution you’re going to want to cosponsor.”