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.”
Green New Deal Lovers Beware: Senate Deal Would Cut the Six-Year Stall on Pipelines and Gas Plants to 150 Days
Democrat, Leftist Ties to Suspected Serial Killer, Violent Pornographer Emerge as House of Horrors Case Grows
Wall Street has a new rival, and it’s deep in the heart of this southern state
AI is supercharging political ad wars. But viral doesn’t mean victorious
Shark bites fisherman twice during kayaking encounter along California beach
Mass shooting at Georgia block party leaves 2 dead, 35 injured
Attorney for accused Cornell student calls on Letitia James to step aside over prior comments
California realtor nabbed at LAX in alleged China spy case targeting Taiwan president’s relative
Florida Man Pleads Guilty in $500,000,000 COVID Test Fraud Scheme
Map Exposes Flocks Surprisingly Massive Network of 300K Surveillance Cameras – They’re Trying to Scrub it
Why the 2A Exists: Strict Gun Laws Fail to Stop South African Slaughter by Gunmen With AK-47s
Trump DOT Kills Biden’s Fuel Rules to Drop New Car Prices by Over $1K
Florida TikTok creator lands in jail after allegedly turning women’s private data into posts
‘We Are Destroying These Bikes’: Californians Trade in Over 1,000 E-Bikes as Injuries Increase 430%
China’s Stranglehold on Rare Metal Is Wreaking Havoc on America’s Jet Engine Supply Chain
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.”
Green New Deal Lovers Beware: Senate Deal Would Cut the Six-Year Stall on Pipelines and Gas Plants to 150 Days
Democrat, Leftist Ties to Suspected Serial Killer, Violent Pornographer Emerge as House of Horrors Case Grows
Wall Street has a new rival, and it’s deep in the heart of this southern state
AI is supercharging political ad wars. But viral doesn’t mean victorious
Shark bites fisherman twice during kayaking encounter along California beach
Mass shooting at Georgia block party leaves 2 dead, 35 injured
Attorney for accused Cornell student calls on Letitia James to step aside over prior comments
California realtor nabbed at LAX in alleged China spy case targeting Taiwan president’s relative
Florida Man Pleads Guilty in $500,000,000 COVID Test Fraud Scheme
Map Exposes Flocks Surprisingly Massive Network of 300K Surveillance Cameras – They’re Trying to Scrub it
Why the 2A Exists: Strict Gun Laws Fail to Stop South African Slaughter by Gunmen With AK-47s
Trump DOT Kills Biden’s Fuel Rules to Drop New Car Prices by Over $1K
Florida TikTok creator lands in jail after allegedly turning women’s private data into posts
‘We Are Destroying These Bikes’: Californians Trade in Over 1,000 E-Bikes as Injuries Increase 430%
China’s Stranglehold on Rare Metal Is Wreaking Havoc on America’s Jet Engine Supply Chain
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.”
