Trump dubs Amash ‘loser’ after impeachment remarks
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday lashed out at Rep. Justin Amash, calling him a “total lightweight” and “loser” one day after the Michigan Republican said Trump’s conduct meets the threshold for impeachment. Mr. Amash is the first Republican member of Congress to say the president “engaged in impeachable conduct.”
In morning tweets, Mr. Trump said he was “never a fan” of Mr. Amash, “a total lightweight who opposes me and some of our great Republican ideas and policies just for the sake of getting his name out there through controversy.”
The president argued that special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election was “biased” but that it was “nevertheless strong on NO COLLUSION and, ultimately, NO OBSTRUCTION.”
Mr. Mueller found 10 “episodes” of potential obstruction of justice by Mr. Trump but ultimately concluded that it was not his decision to determine whether the president broke the law.
Attorney General William Barr said he had reviewed the evidence and found it insufficient to support an obstruction charge.
In the report, Mr. Mueller’s team also wrote that while the investigation established that the Trump campaign “expected it would benefit electorally from” information stolen in Russiabacked efforts, it “did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
Mr. Trump added on Sunday, “Anyway, how do you Obstruct when there is no crime and, in fact, the crimes were committed by the other side?”
“Justin is a loser who sadly plays right into our opponents hands!” he said.
Mr. Amash’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Republican leaders on Sunday joined Mr. Trump in criticizing Mr. Amash. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called Mr. Amash’s comments “very disturbing,” arguing that the lawmaker is “not a criminal attorney. He’s never met Mueller. He’s never met Barr.”
Mr. McCarthy also took aim at Mr. Amash’s record as a lawmaker.”I think he’s only asked one question in all the committees he’s been in,” Mr. McCarthy said. “He votes more with (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi than he ever votes with me.”
Sen. Mitt Romney, RUtah, said Sunday that he respects Mr. Amash and believes he made a “courageous statement” about his views on impeachment. But Mr. Romney noted that he had come to a different conclusion.
“As I read the report, I was troubled by it,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “It was very disappointing, for a number of reasons. But it did not suggest to me that this was time to call for impeachment.”