Since he made his historic series of tweets on Saturday as the first Republican member of Congress to go on record as saying that President Trump’s had committed impeachable offenses, Congressman Justin Amash (R-MI) has been attacked across the media by fellow members of his party reflexively defending the president.
Today, with the courage of his convictions bolstered by the fact that he has actually read the entire redacted version of the Mueller report and knows the details of the obstruction committed, Representative Amash fought back against the excuses his fellow GOP politicians were offering to discredit his conclusions.
Amash demolished the Republican talking points trotted out hourly on Fox News and other right-wing media by offering a detailed and lengthy rebuttal of their erroneous interpretation of reality in an epic Twitter thread.
He began by demolishing the myth oft repeated by Trump himself in his tweeted rants — that, if there is no finding of underlying crimes, then there can be no charges of obstruction of justice.
1. They say there were no underlying crimes.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 20, 2019
2. They say obstruction of justice requires an underlying crime.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 20, 2019
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If an underlying crime were required, then prosecutors could charge obstruction of justice only if it were unsuccessful in completely obstructing the investigation. This would make no sense.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 20, 2019
In fact, the president could not have known whether every single person Mueller investigated did or did not commit any crimes.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 20, 2019
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In fact, “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” is not defined in the Constitution and does not require corresponding statutory charges. The context implies conduct that violates the public trust—and that view is echoed by the Framers of the Constitution and early American scholars.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 20, 2019
Like the attorney that he was before embarking upon a political career, Congressman Amash lays out his evidence in a clear and logical argument that demolishes the lies in President Trump’s histrionic all-caps Twitter blathering and in the forked-tongued cable news appearances by his slavish and self-interested defenders.
By carefully presenting the reasons that no prosecutor would believe that obstruction of justice can only be committed if enough evidence of an underlying crime has been already discovered, Amash implicitly attacks the credibility of his smarmy GOP colleagues who conveniently forgot any law school training they may have acquired in order to protect their corrupt leader.
Amash also provides a lesson in the Constitution for his fellow congressional Republicans, who one might expect from their reputations as defenders of a strict interpretation of that founding document (at least when it suits their purposes) would hardly need it.
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Perhaps that section was for a proverbial audience of one — the president himself, whom no sane person believes has ever read the document which he was sworn to “preserve, protect and defend.”
It’s doubtful whether Representative Amash’s cogent reply to his GOP critics will do much to sway their fierce defense of President Trump’s claimed innocence. They are fighting for their political lives here and have no compunctions over putting self-interest over principle. Republican Leaders are already plotting a primary challenge for Amash to punish him for his disloyalty.
Congratulations to the congressman for proving that at least one member of his party is willing to state his convictions clearly and openly and fight to defend them despite the personal risk to his future career.
If only the senior Democratic leadership were as bold at this point.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
