Justin Amash Slams Republicans For ‘Concerted Effort To Mislead’ On Impeachment
Independent Justin Amash recently took to Twitter to attack Republicans for misleading the public about the impeachment probe into President Donald Trump, referring to the GOP’s recent defense of Trump amid the House Judiciary Committee revealing and passing two articles of impeachment. According to The Washington Post, Republicans note that these articles do not contain any “specific, statutory crime.”
“Republicans are making a concerted effort to mislead,” Amash tweeted Thursday, noting that the charge of high crimes and misdemeanors is not about statutory crimes.
“In fact, the Constitution doesn’t provide for impeachment for ordinary crimes; they must be ‘high.’ Impeachable wrongdoing must relate to abuse of office.”
The Michigan Representative continued to voice his criticisms today, noting that presidents are not impeached for “ordinary crimes and misdemeanors.”
“You impeach a president for high crimes and misdemeanors. You don’t look to statutes. You look to whether his behavior involves abusing power, violating the public trust, or using his office for personal gain.”
Amash claims that the framers of the American Constitution meant “high” to signify “high office,” citing Federalist No. 65 by Alexander Hamilton, which defines such high crimes as offenses stemming from “misconduct of public men,” also defined as the “abuse or violation of some public trust.” The paper continues to note that the crimes by nature “may with peculiar propriety be denominated political” due to their relationship “chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself.”
The 39-year-old congressman has been frequently critical of Trump and the GOP, as well as the current state of Congress. He previously said that although the legislative process was broken before Trump took office, its problems have become worse under his presidency. Amash also accused the GOP of moving from its previous values of individual liberty and economic freedom — as well as respecting the Constitution — to protecting and supporting Trump at all costs.
Before the House voted on a resolution for the impeachment probe, Amash warned his Republican colleagues that their support of Trump would not land on the right side of history.
California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren recently suggested that Trump’s impeachment probe is the most serious of all three in United States history. She claimed that impeachment is not about punishing the president, adding that it is a measure taken to protect Americans from violations of the Constitution that threaten the future of the country. The 71-year-old congresswoman also said that Trump is the first president in history to refuse to comply with the authority of Congress.
