Justin Amash: Some Republicans thanked me privately for impeachment stance
Congressman Justin Amash, I-Mich, told FOX Business during an appearance on “Kennedy” on Tuesday that some "Republican colleagues" and "Republican officials" have thanked him privately for his impeachment stance but refuse to speak out publicly.
When Judge Andrew Napolitano pressed him and asked him to mention specific names and whether they are members of the House of Representatives, Amash replied, “Yes but when people tell me things in confidence on the House floor or send me a text message, I don’t want to say that publicly.”
“I don’t think that’s appropriate for me to do because they sent me those messages privately. There are lots of people within the House of Representatives --I’m not saying it’s the majority of Republicans on the House floor -- what I’m saying is that there are several people in the House of Representatives, and there are many high level officials and others who have reached out to me as well,” he explained.
Amash shocked the political world when he became the first Republican to call for impeachment proceedings against President Trump, and he sent more shockwaves when he officially left the GOP on July 4th.
The newly Independent congressman has criticized the two-party system and wrote in The Washington Post that “modern politics is trapped in a partisan death spiral.”
President Trump responded to Amash on Twitter, saying that his decision to leave the party was "great news."
Meanwhile, Amash believes that Congress is fundamentally dysfunctional.
“There’s almost no debate here in Congress. It’s almost all directed by leadership. So, you’d imagine at home that the House and the Senate would be deliberative bodies, where you come and you express your ideas, you have debates, and you think through the issues, and you come to the right conclusion based on that debate," he said.
"But instead what happens here, is leadership tells you exactly what to think. In fact, every day when we vote on the House floor, leaders send out messages to their respective parties telling them how to vote on various amendments and various bills. And most of the members of Congress don’t read any of it,” he explained.
Amash said he is confident that he will be re-elected as an Independent in Michigan’s 3rd district, and that at this point he is used to being attacked by the GOP.
"I haven't had party support behind me for years and years… The party has come after me because I have been fighting against the establishment, fighting against the political class in Washington for years. And now you have Donald Trump teaming up with the establishment," he said.
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There has been a lot of speculation that Amash may be mounting a run for president as a libertarian candidate. He said he isn’t ruling anything out right now.
“The only thing I’ve said is what I’ll say today which is I haven’t ruled it out,” he said.