Amash says some Republicans privately sympathize with Trump impeachment comments

By Justin Wise - 05/22/19 08:57 PM EDT
 

GOP Rep. Justin AmashJustin AmashGroup of House Democrats reportedly attended the White House ball Group of Democrats floating censure of Trump instead of impeachment: report Democrats gear up for high-stakes Judiciary hearing MORE (Mich.) on Wednesday said some of his Republican colleagues have sympathized with his recent statement that President TrumpDonald John TrumpRepublicans aim to avoid war with White House over impeachment strategy New York Times editorial board calls for Trump's impeachment Trump rips Michigan Rep. Dingell after Fox News appearance: 'Really pathetic!' MORE engaged in impeachable conduct. 

The libertarian-leaning congressman told CNN that lawmakers are still reviewing special counsel Robert MuellerRobert (Bob) Swan MuellerJeffries blasts Trump for attack on Thunberg at impeachment hearing Live coverage: House Judiciary to vote on impeachment after surprise delay Trump says he'll release financial records before election, knocks Dems' efforts MORE's report, adding his comments over the weekend spurred some to read the report's contents more carefully. 

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"There are people who are still reviewing [the Mueller report]," Amash said in an interview with CNN. "I've had people who, after I made my tweets said, 'Boy, they'd better review it more carefully now and they hadn't really gone through it before.'"
 
Amash added that "volume two speaks for itself," referring to the section of Mueller's report that describes the special counsel's probe into whether Trump obstructed justice.
 
"So people who are baffled by it, I wonder how carefully they read volume two because it's there. There's a difference between skimming the pages and actually reading it and understanding it," he said, adding that some of his peers had expressed sympathy with his viewpoints.
 
Amash over the weekend became the first Republican lawmaker to say that Mueller's investigation showed Trump had engaged in impeachable conduct. He laid out his argument in an expansive Twitter thread, saying Mueller's report identified "multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice."
 
Trump and other GOP lawmakers have accused Amash of leveling the impeachment charge in an attempt to gain publicity. But Amash told CNN that his "job is to defend the Constitution."
 
"I'm laying out the information I want to lay out and it's not about getting on TV or anything like that," he said. "I want to make sure that I'm presenting it in the most clear-cut, sober way possible."
 
Amash, a frequent Trump critic, added to CNN that he will campaign for reelection in 2020, but he did not rule out the possibility of seeking the Libertarian nomination for president in 2020. 
 
Mueller's investigation did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that a conspiracy between the 2016 Trump campaign and Moscow took place. However, the report noted that Mueller could not come to a conclusive determination regarding obstruction of justice. 
Tags Robert Mueller Donald Trump Justin Amash Mueller investigation