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.”
Justice Department charges 16 across multiple states with alleged illegal voting, election crimes
Breaking: US Issues Security Alert as Trump Rushes to WH Days After Saying US Could Soon ‘Annihilate’ Iranian Regime
Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn Says His Viral ‘Duct Tape Man’ Encounter Echoes ‘Revelation’ About Evil in His Latest Book
New Jersey mom charged with obstruction after ‘missing’ son found hiding in her crawl space
NORAD F-16 intercepts aircraft that violated restricted airspace over Camp David with Trump present: officials
DSA Democrats Praise This ‘Socialist Model’ – Communist Cuba’s Power Grid Collapses
Watch: MAGA Takes Victory Lap as CNN Is Forced to Read Trump’s WH Ban on Air
Newsom signs bills to prevent Trump from ‘dictatorial control’ over California elections
Shocking Reports of Dog Torture Emerge from Major LA Homeless Encampment
Trump announces new ‘AI Force,’ vows to protect industry as AI czar announcement nears
Solid-Blue Oregon Suddenly Looks Flippable as a New Poll Puts the Governor’s Race in Toss-Up Range
Who is Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan?
Specific Utah Law Could Derail Charlie Kirk Family’s Wrongful Death Case: Legal Experts
Riyadh airport explosion prompts Saudi Arabia to issue air raid alerts as Houthi fighting escalates
Yes, They Do Exist: Ken Paxton Shuts Down Chinese Birth Tourism Center in Texas
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.”
Justice Department charges 16 across multiple states with alleged illegal voting, election crimes
Breaking: US Issues Security Alert as Trump Rushes to WH Days After Saying US Could Soon ‘Annihilate’ Iranian Regime
Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn Says His Viral ‘Duct Tape Man’ Encounter Echoes ‘Revelation’ About Evil in His Latest Book
New Jersey mom charged with obstruction after ‘missing’ son found hiding in her crawl space
NORAD F-16 intercepts aircraft that violated restricted airspace over Camp David with Trump present: officials
DSA Democrats Praise This ‘Socialist Model’ – Communist Cuba’s Power Grid Collapses
Watch: MAGA Takes Victory Lap as CNN Is Forced to Read Trump’s WH Ban on Air
Newsom signs bills to prevent Trump from ‘dictatorial control’ over California elections
Shocking Reports of Dog Torture Emerge from Major LA Homeless Encampment
Trump announces new ‘AI Force,’ vows to protect industry as AI czar announcement nears
Solid-Blue Oregon Suddenly Looks Flippable as a New Poll Puts the Governor’s Race in Toss-Up Range
Who is Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan?
Specific Utah Law Could Derail Charlie Kirk Family’s Wrongful Death Case: Legal Experts
Riyadh airport explosion prompts Saudi Arabia to issue air raid alerts as Houthi fighting escalates
Yes, They Do Exist: Ken Paxton Shuts Down Chinese Birth Tourism Center in Texas
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.”
