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.”
Republicans narrowly reject efforts to handcuff Trump’s war powers in Venezuela
Patel reveals bizarre ‘self-awarded’ trophy former FBI officials made to celebrate Trump probe
NYT: Murder Rate Hits 125-Year Low in Trump’s First Year Back in Office — Biggest Single-Year Drop Ever
Jack Smith dodges questions on Cassidy Hutchinson witness credibility
Paris Hilton teams up with AOC to push House to pass stalled AI deepfake porn bill
Top AZ county lawyer fired after dad accuses him of filming 12-year-old at store, performing sex act in car
Anti-abortion groups keep pressure on White House after March for Life olive branch
Mattel’s Autistic Barbie – Fidget Spinner and All – Draws Fire from Critics as Fans Rave: ‘So Cool and So Beautiful’
White House, DHS push back on claims ICE targeted 5-year-old in Minnesota, say child was ‘abandoned’
Zelenskyy blasts global inaction on Iran, claims Europe stuck in ‘Greenland mode’
Convicted Minnesota fraudster alleges Walz, Ellison were aware of widespread fraud
Glenn Beck Calls on Trump to Fire Pam Bondi After a Year on the Job, Cites Lack of Major Prosecutions
BREAKING: Minnesota Judge Refuses to Sign Criminal Complaint Charging Don Lemon for Storming Church
Newsom posts himself as ‘Sparkle Beach’ Ken Barbie doll in clap back at Bessent
It’s Gotten Worse: New MRC Study Shows Media Bias Against Trump Has Hit New High – More Than 9/10 at Times
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.”
Republicans narrowly reject efforts to handcuff Trump’s war powers in Venezuela
Patel reveals bizarre ‘self-awarded’ trophy former FBI officials made to celebrate Trump probe
NYT: Murder Rate Hits 125-Year Low in Trump’s First Year Back in Office — Biggest Single-Year Drop Ever
Jack Smith dodges questions on Cassidy Hutchinson witness credibility
Paris Hilton teams up with AOC to push House to pass stalled AI deepfake porn bill
Top AZ county lawyer fired after dad accuses him of filming 12-year-old at store, performing sex act in car
Anti-abortion groups keep pressure on White House after March for Life olive branch
Mattel’s Autistic Barbie – Fidget Spinner and All – Draws Fire from Critics as Fans Rave: ‘So Cool and So Beautiful’
White House, DHS push back on claims ICE targeted 5-year-old in Minnesota, say child was ‘abandoned’
Zelenskyy blasts global inaction on Iran, claims Europe stuck in ‘Greenland mode’
Convicted Minnesota fraudster alleges Walz, Ellison were aware of widespread fraud
Glenn Beck Calls on Trump to Fire Pam Bondi After a Year on the Job, Cites Lack of Major Prosecutions
BREAKING: Minnesota Judge Refuses to Sign Criminal Complaint Charging Don Lemon for Storming Church
Newsom posts himself as ‘Sparkle Beach’ Ken Barbie doll in clap back at Bessent
It’s Gotten Worse: New MRC Study Shows Media Bias Against Trump Has Hit New High – More Than 9/10 at Times
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.”
