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.”
Groundhog Day and Friday the 13th
Planned Parenthood drops lawsuit challenging Trump administration’s Medicaid cuts
San Francisco uncovers nine secret drug and gambling dens disguised as convenience stores
Dozens of House Republicans Demand Mitch McConnell ‘Stop Stalling the SAVE Act’
Jeffries says GOP ‘done eff’d up in Texas,’ vows they won’t win five seats: ‘They can’t ignore it’
Chuck Schumer Lambasted After Comparing the SAVE Act to Jim Crow
Trump administration blocked from ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians
BREAKING: Under Threat of Criminal Contempt, Bill and Hillary Clinton Have Agreed to Testify in House’s Jeffrey Epstein Probe
Donations surge for fallen NY officer and new mom following tragic death at hands of DWI suspect
Clinton Judge Releases Boy, 5, and His Father from ICE Detention, Makes Mistake So Bad on Order This May Be the First Time It’s Ever Recorded
Clintons agree to testify after House threatens contempt in Jeffrey Epstein probe
LAPD Chief Refuses to Enforce Gavin Newsom’s Crackdown on ICE Agents: ‘It Doesn’t Make Any Sense’
House GOP majority shrinks to just one vote as Johnson swears in new House Democrat
Trump and India PM Modi Reach Historic Trade Agreement, Includes Ending Importation of Russian Oil
Grammys blasted as ‘anti-China political tool’ after Dalai Lama wins audiobook award
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.”
Groundhog Day and Friday the 13th
Planned Parenthood drops lawsuit challenging Trump administration’s Medicaid cuts
San Francisco uncovers nine secret drug and gambling dens disguised as convenience stores
Dozens of House Republicans Demand Mitch McConnell ‘Stop Stalling the SAVE Act’
Jeffries says GOP ‘done eff’d up in Texas,’ vows they won’t win five seats: ‘They can’t ignore it’
Chuck Schumer Lambasted After Comparing the SAVE Act to Jim Crow
Trump administration blocked from ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians
BREAKING: Under Threat of Criminal Contempt, Bill and Hillary Clinton Have Agreed to Testify in House’s Jeffrey Epstein Probe
Donations surge for fallen NY officer and new mom following tragic death at hands of DWI suspect
Clinton Judge Releases Boy, 5, and His Father from ICE Detention, Makes Mistake So Bad on Order This May Be the First Time It’s Ever Recorded
Clintons agree to testify after House threatens contempt in Jeffrey Epstein probe
LAPD Chief Refuses to Enforce Gavin Newsom’s Crackdown on ICE Agents: ‘It Doesn’t Make Any Sense’
House GOP majority shrinks to just one vote as Johnson swears in new House Democrat
Trump and India PM Modi Reach Historic Trade Agreement, Includes Ending Importation of Russian Oil
Grammys blasted as ‘anti-China political tool’ after Dalai Lama wins audiobook award
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.”
