Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash announced Monday evening he is leaving the influential conservative House Freedom Caucus, just weeks after he attracted the ire of his colleagues by arguing in Twitter posts that President Trump had committed impeachable offenses, Fox News has learned.
Amash, speaking at a Freedom Caucus board meeting, insisted his departure was voluntary. Amash said he did not want to continue to be a “further distraction” for the caucus, which is chaired by North Carolina GOP Rep. Mark Meadows.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, a member of the Freedom Caucus, told Fox News’ “Ingraham Angle” Monday evening that Meadows and Amash mutually came to the decision after several conversations.
Jordan said the Republican members of the group still consider Amash a friend, but that their disagreements were “sharp” and significant.
“Some of the president’s actions were inherently corrupt,” Amash, who said Trump had “engaged in impeachable conduct,” tweeted in May. “Other actions were corrupt — and therefore impeachable — because the president took them to serve his own interests.”
Alleged Philadelphia Cop Killer Admits He Targeted White Officers – Would Not Have Shot Black Cops
Trump rally crowd chants ‘deport’ as president rips Ilhan Omar after federal raid
Trump vanishes from GOP senator’s campaign website as poll numbers plunge weeks before election
AI Is Replacing Doctors Already: Utah Just Let an AI Write a Medical Prescription for the First Time
Biden Admin Used Threats to Silence Parents from Speaking Out Against Woke Policies, Teaching: DOJ Report
Republicans eye Wes Moore’s redistricting measure to boost GOP in blue Maryland
Ilhan Omar immigration history: Scrutiny surrounds family’s refugee claims
Kimberly Guilfoyle faces potential Senate probe over bombshell $100K allegation
Booker ‘wowed’ by GOP challenger’s blunt message to Trump
Rob Sand seeks red-state blueprint for Democrats in Iowa
US military archbishop urges Catholic soldiers to refuse involvement in Army firing squad execution
Protester punched in face by Trump supporter, mocked by president at Ohio rally: ‘Gotta go on a diet’
Man admits to dismembering ex-girlfriend, keeping severed head in suitcase after she played him ‘like a fool’
Raw Footage: Federal Agents Remove Evidence from Ilhan Omar’s House
DOJ Investigating Fox News, CNN, Broadcast Networks for Possible Violations of Federal Law
Amash also accused Attorney General Bill Barr of intentionally misrepresenting Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report through lawyerly sleights of hand.
President Trump responded by writing that Amash was a “loser” and a “lightweight” seeking to gain national name recognition.
At a town hall in Grand Rapids, Mich., late last month, some of Amash’s constituents excoriated him for pushing for impeachment, while several others commended him for breaking ranks with his party and standing on principle.
“You talk about the Constitution and how important that is, but yet nothing that Mueller came out within this report, nothing that has been said about him and President Trump is constitutional — it’s been a smear tactic, because that’s how the Democrats work,” one Trump supporter told Amash.
“How can you become a Democrat when we voted for you as a Republican?” the attendee continued. “Because you’ve just drank the same Kool-Aid as all the Democrats.”
Alleged Philadelphia Cop Killer Admits He Targeted White Officers – Would Not Have Shot Black Cops
Trump rally crowd chants ‘deport’ as president rips Ilhan Omar after federal raid
Trump vanishes from GOP senator’s campaign website as poll numbers plunge weeks before election
AI Is Replacing Doctors Already: Utah Just Let an AI Write a Medical Prescription for the First Time
Biden Admin Used Threats to Silence Parents from Speaking Out Against Woke Policies, Teaching: DOJ Report
Republicans eye Wes Moore’s redistricting measure to boost GOP in blue Maryland
Ilhan Omar immigration history: Scrutiny surrounds family’s refugee claims
Kimberly Guilfoyle faces potential Senate probe over bombshell $100K allegation
Booker ‘wowed’ by GOP challenger’s blunt message to Trump
Rob Sand seeks red-state blueprint for Democrats in Iowa
US military archbishop urges Catholic soldiers to refuse involvement in Army firing squad execution
Protester punched in face by Trump supporter, mocked by president at Ohio rally: ‘Gotta go on a diet’
Man admits to dismembering ex-girlfriend, keeping severed head in suitcase after she played him ‘like a fool’
Raw Footage: Federal Agents Remove Evidence from Ilhan Omar’s House
DOJ Investigating Fox News, CNN, Broadcast Networks for Possible Violations of Federal Law
Amash then defended his record in Congress, telling the town hall attendees he has “one of the most constitutionally conservative and fiscally conservative” voting records of all sitting lawmakers and that he’s at the top “of nearly all the scorecards” of conservative groups.
Amash had a high 88 rating from the American Conservative Union (ACU) in 2018, up from 78 in 2017. Jordan scored 100 for both years, while Meadows notched 91 and 100, respectively. The group’s Federal Legislative Ratings scores members of Congress based on how they vote in line with conservative principles. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., by contrast, had a 4 rating in 2018.
Another woman at the town hall, Anna Timmer, criticized Amash for “grandstanding” and trying to raise his “national profile,” while arguing that an impeachment inquiry would “tear this country apart.”
