Civilized General Discussion, the NEW BLUE BOARD / Republican lawmaker joins the impeachment ranks

**Posted by Siagiah** 5/20/2019 10:38 am

impeachment talk

https://theweek.com/speedreads/842361/republican-lawmaker-joins-impeachment-ranks

Republican lawmaker joins the impeachment ranks

8:19 a.m.

Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) on Saturday became the first Republican to openly call for the impeachment of President Trump.  The congressman created a long tweet thread explaining that he came to the conclusion following the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on his investigation into 2016 Russian election interference. While Mueller's team found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Moscow, Amash believes Trump has still "engaged in impeachable conduct" and because impeachment does not, legally speaking, "require probable cause that a crime has been committed," Congress would be justified in pursuing that route.


Here are my principal conclusions:

1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report.

2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.

3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances.

4. Few members of Congress have read the report.

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019

Contrary to Barr’s portrayal, Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment.

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019

He also said he believes Attorney General William Barr "deliberately misrepresented" Mueller's report. Amash's fellow Michigan representative, Rashida Tlaib (D), has reportedly asked Amash to cosponsor an impeachment investigation resolution.

While it may be fundamentally surprising for a Republican congressman to support impeachment openly, Amash has long been a harsh Trump critic, so it is unlikely his stance will spark similar responses. Tim O'Donnell


Great to have Rep. Amash favor impeachment for Trump, but he is not a conservative. He’s a libertarian who’s been the harshest Republican critic of Trump in the House since his inauguration.

— Damon Linker (@DamonLinker) May 19, 2019

**Posted by Amadeus** 5/21/2019 1:05 pm

Amash is from nearby where I live. It was interesting to see him state the obvious. My wife and I speculated as to why he is speaking up.

Is he serious or is he reading public opinion? Or is he misreading public opinion? Will this cost him his seat? Does he know that and feel that he has to speak up anyway?

And where are the other Republicans who should be speaking up?

Amadeus

**Posted by Siagiah** 5/22/2019 12:03 am

The other Republicans are waiting to see what happens to Amash before they dare to speak up.

I'm predicting that WHEN the floodgates open and the GOP starts talking about how they REALLY feel about tRUMP, that the name tRUMP will be mud throughout the world... More so than it already is. Customers will start boycotting his products and not stay at his hotels.

Ivanka's entire product line fell in disgrace already. There's more to come.

**Posted by Pikes Peak 14115** 5/22/2019 4:36 am

It's already underway, Harvard law prof Laurence Tribe said when Trump's subpoena challenges reach SCOTUS, they will quickly be decided against Trump by 9-0 votes. That will break the dam wide open.

**Posted by Siagiah** 5/22/2019 10:50 am

Pikes Peak 14115 wrote:
It's already underway, Harvard law prof Laurence Tribe said when Trump's subpoena challenges reach SCOTUS, they will quickly be decided against Trump by 9-0 votes. That will break the dam wide open.

That is assuming that the SCOTUS actually agrees to hear it. But yeah, I cannot imagine ANY of the SCOTUS trying to justify NOT upholding Congress's right to subpoena him or his records.

**Posted by Pikes Peak 14115** 5/22/2019 11:09 am

Siagiah wrote:
Pikes Peak 14115 wrote:
It's already underway, Harvard law prof Laurence Tribe said when Trump's subpoena challenges reach SCOTUS, they will quickly be decided against Trump by 9-0 votes. That will break the dam wide open.
That is assuming that the SCOTUS actually agrees to hear it. But yeah, I cannot imagine ANY of the SCOTUS trying to justify NOT upholding Congress's right to subpoena him or his records.

I would think that is a hearing in which they have keen interest, and where time is of the essence.

There's another major crack in the Trump dam. Bill Weld. No incumbent ever won an election when challenged from within his own party. I listened to Bill Weld speak, and I believe I could support him. IMO he's set up to challenge Trump with as much clout and ferocity as Reagan had against Ford. Its a repetition of history too as Trump = Nixon, and Biden might be another Jimmy Carter. Sure looks like another round of the old cycle to me.