Former Republican Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI-03) stood with House Democrats Thursday to approve Resolution 660, which set the rules for the impeachment inquiry.
“This president will be in power for only a short time, but excusing his misbehavior will forever tarnish your name. To my Republican colleagues: Step outside your media and social bubble. History will not look kindly on disingenuous, frivolous, and false defenses of this man,” Amash tweeted Thursday.
This president will be in power for only a short time, but excusing his misbehavior will forever tarnish your name. To my Republican colleagues: Step outside your media and social bubble. History will not look kindly on disingenuous, frivolous, and false defenses of this man.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) October 31, 2019
The long time libertarian politician added Congress members took an oath to “defend the Constitution” rather than the president.
We swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution, not an oath to support and defend Donald Trump’s abuse of the office of the presidency.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) October 30, 2019
Previously, Amash, who left the Republican party in July, became the first self-described conservative Congressional member to call for an impeachment probe into the Ukranian scandal. After the transcript of the conversation between President Donald Trump and Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky went public, he called the conversation “highly incriminating.”
“Yesterday, I had expected the WH to release an unremarkable transcript to distract from the main issues: the whistleblower complaint and other abuses,” he said. “Today, it released a highly incriminating transcript, and it seems POTUS doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong.”
Yesterday, I had expected the WH to release an unremarkable transcript to distract from the main issues: the whistleblower complaint and other abuses. Today, it released a highly incriminating transcript, and it seems POTUS doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) September 25, 2019
Amash joined Michigan Democrats of voting in favor of an impeachment resolution. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13), who retweeted Amash’s message for his “Republican colleagues, had her own message for Trump.
“To the surprise of no one, they voted against it. Regardless, the bottom line remains the same: this corrupt President is not above the law and Congress will pursue every avenue we can to hold him accountable for his lawless, unconstitutional actions,” she said.
To the surprise of no one, they voted against it. Regardless, the bottom line remains the same: this corrupt President is not above the law and Congress will pursue every avenue we can to hold him accountable for his lawless, unconstitutional actions.
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) October 31, 2019
The House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines with a final vote of 232-196. Only Democratic Reps. Collin Peterson (D-MN-07) and Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ-02) decided against the impeachment probe.
The Independent representative, who has represented Michigan’s Third Congressional District since 2010, has not ruled out a third-party 2020 presidential run and has not fully committed to running for re-election.
If Amash does run for reelection, he faces a challenging race with Republicans and Democrats vying for Michigan’s Third Congressional District seat.
Cook Political Report, which is an independent, nonpartisan organization that analyses US elections, rules this district as a “toss-up.”
“Michigan’s 3rd CD — once represented by Gerald Ford — has long been a Republican seat, but in recent years it’s grown more professional and competitive. In 2016, Trump took just 52 percent there, a hair under Mitt Romney’s 53 percent,” the Cook Political Book said in a recent article.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Battleground State News. Follow Zachery on Twitter.
Photo “Justin Amash” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
