US Representative Justin Amash has become the first Republican lawmaker to say that the way President Donald Trump has acted might lead to his impeachment.
Amash wrote on Twitter Saturday that the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election reveals Trump “engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment.”
In fact, Mueller’s report identifies multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice, and undoubtedly any person who is not the president of the United States would be indicted based on such evidence.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
Trump has said Mueller’s report did not provide any evidence to prove any obstruction of justice.
Amash also wrote that “it is clear” that Attorney General William Barr sought to mislead the public about Mueller’s report in his conclusions.
In comparing Barr’s principal conclusions, congressional testimony, and other statements to Mueller’s report, it is clear that Barr intended to mislead the public about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s analysis and findings.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
Mueller wrote a letter to Barr, complaining that his summary of the report “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the investigation’s conclusions.
Mueller wrote the letter after the summary of his report was released on March 24 to express frustration over “the lack of context and the resulting media coverage," The Washington Post reported.
Amash, who represents Michigan’s 3rd congressional district, is a frequent critic of Trump and has suggested he would consider running as a libertarian against Trump in the 2020 election.
Last week, Trump has described as a “witch hunt” Mueller's investigation, saying it "must never be allowed to happen again."
Mueller, a former FBI director, had been examining since May 2017 whether Trump’s election campaign colluded with Moscow to try to influence the presidential election and whether the Republican president later unlawfully tried to obstruct his investigation.
The Justice Department released the investigation results in late March, which did not uncover evidence to establish that Trump’s campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Moscow. However, it did show that Trump tried to impede the investigation.
Democrats have taken a legal step to see all of Mueller’s evidence from his inquiry, with some members even pushing for the impeachment of Trump.