House Freedom Caucus votes to condemn Amash's impeachment comments

The conservative House Freedom Caucus took an official position condemning Rep. Justin AmashJustin AmashRundown of the House seats Democrats, GOP flipped on Election Day Romney congratulates Biden after victory The Hill's Morning Report - Biden inches closer to victory MORE’s (R-Mich.) call for impeaching President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump: New York won't receive COVID-19 vaccine immediately Biden considering Yellen as possible Treasury secretary: report Trump puts Giuliani in charge of election lawsuits: report MORE on Monday evening, Rep. Jim JordanJames (Jim) Daniel JordanHundreds of Trump supporters protest election results in Pennsylvania This election wasn't a zero-sum game, and it's going to be messy Civil unrest fears grow as protests hit vote-counting battleground states MORE (R-Ohio) told reporters.

“We had a good discussion and every single member, I think now based on who was there and our board meeting was probably over 30 members, every single member disagrees and strongly with the position Justin took over the week, and we're focused on the now,” he said.

“I mean, look, we're focused on the fact that what the FBI did was wrong. We think that [Attorney General William] Barr’s handled himself exactly the way the American people want the attorney general to handle themselves, and he's going to get to bottom of all this.”

While members did not discuss whether they should hold a vote to oust Amash from the powerful group he helped found, many expressed frustrations with his position. Amash said he determined the president committed “impeachable offenses” after having read special counsel Robert MuellerRobert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE's full redacted report.

“What concerns me is Justin was viewed as a leader, right, on protecting privacy rights first to First Amendment rights,” Jordan continued.

“We had a press conference like a year ago with [Sen.] Rand PaulRandal (Rand) Howard PaulRand Paul says COVID-19 survivors should 'throw away their masks, go to restaurants, live again' GOP senator in quarantine after being exposed to staffer with COVID-19 Republican Bill Hagerty wins Tennessee Senate race MORE, Sen. [Ron] Wyden all on concerns about civil liberties and how the FISA court operates and what can happen in this whole, you know, this whole area, and now Justin's on the other side and I just don't understand that,” he said, referring to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Rep. Warren DavidsonWarren Earl DavidsonHillicon Valley: House votes to condemn QAnon | Americans worried about foreign election interference | DHS confirms request to tap protester phones House approves measure condemning QAnon, but 17 Republicans vote against it Hillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns MORE (R-Ohio) said “they consider him a friend” but noted Amash has not attended the majority of Freedom Caucus meetings this year or held a meeting of the Liberty Caucus — the conservative caucus he founded and chairs — this year.

“You look at it, no one's been a stronger voice on the potential abuses of FISA than Amash. I mean, he's a passionate guy on it. So a lot of us agreed, and I remember we were all at a big press conference right before the [reauthorization] of FISA, which was right before all this stuff came out about all this stuff with Trump,” he told reporters.

“So to look at that and see him take the position he is, I mean, it's shocking. And then I had no conversations with him about it. And I think that was another thing he just didn't really talk to the group about it.”

Members of the Freedom Caucus were clear that Amash’s voice did not represent their opinions on the matter, asserting they don’t believe there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential race or obstruction of the Mueller investigation.

"Everybody's entitled their opinion, it’s just in this case Justin is one solo voice and the rest of this group here says ‘You're wrong,’” Rep. Paul GosarPaul Anthony GosarDemocrat O'Halleran wins reelection in Arizona House race Lil Jon slams Paul Gosar: 'Don't quote my songs' Hundreds of Trump supporters protest election results in Pennsylvania MORE (R-Ariz.) said.

Since Amash broke with the rest of the GOP in publicly coming out for impeachment on Saturday, at least one Republican, Michigan state Rep. Jim Lower, has announced their intentions to primary the five-term incumbent.