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.”
Two groups form in California governor’s race, but still no clear front-runner
Former Marvel actor working with Daily Wire for action movie produced by Ben Shapiro
Watch: The Priceless Look on This Sign Language Interpreter’s Face When She Has to Sign Hateful Islamic Verses She Probably Never Knew Existed
Denver mayor orders ICE agents detained if they ‘assault or shoot’ residents
Iran and US silent as negotiations in Geneva conclude without resolution
Travis County DA faces renewed ‘soft on crime’ criticism after career criminal charged with murder
Perfect Justice: Bill Gates Confesses to Russian Connection That Trump Was Falsely Accused of for Years
Nancy Guthrie neighbors’ Ring camera captures vehicles on possible route from crime scene
Family claims casino staff mistook veteran’s illness for intoxication, delaying care before his death
Retired Air Force Major Charged for Allegedly Training Chinese Military Pilots
New Texas Poll Is Out, and Stephen Colbert and Democratic Establishment Won’t Be Happy With It
Mamdani to meet with Trump in unannounced White House visit
China expands space footprint in Latin America, raising military alarms in America’s backyard
Biden FBI spied on Susie Wiles during Trump’s campaign
GOP pushes to hold sanctuary jurisdictions’ ‘feet to the fire’ in state where Laken Riley was killed
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.”
Two groups form in California governor’s race, but still no clear front-runner
Former Marvel actor working with Daily Wire for action movie produced by Ben Shapiro
Watch: The Priceless Look on This Sign Language Interpreter’s Face When She Has to Sign Hateful Islamic Verses She Probably Never Knew Existed
Denver mayor orders ICE agents detained if they ‘assault or shoot’ residents
Iran and US silent as negotiations in Geneva conclude without resolution
Travis County DA faces renewed ‘soft on crime’ criticism after career criminal charged with murder
Perfect Justice: Bill Gates Confesses to Russian Connection That Trump Was Falsely Accused of for Years
Nancy Guthrie neighbors’ Ring camera captures vehicles on possible route from crime scene
Family claims casino staff mistook veteran’s illness for intoxication, delaying care before his death
Retired Air Force Major Charged for Allegedly Training Chinese Military Pilots
New Texas Poll Is Out, and Stephen Colbert and Democratic Establishment Won’t Be Happy With It
Mamdani to meet with Trump in unannounced White House visit
China expands space footprint in Latin America, raising military alarms in America’s backyard
Biden FBI spied on Susie Wiles during Trump’s campaign
GOP pushes to hold sanctuary jurisdictions’ ‘feet to the fire’ in state where Laken Riley was killed
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.”
