A group of 30 freshman Democrats are calling for Rep. Justin Amash, who quit the Republican Party over Trump, to serve as an impeachment manager in the Senate trial, The Washington Post reports.
The group, led by Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, asked House leaders to allow the libertarian Michigan congressman to help present the case for impeaching Trump to the Senate.
The Democrats believe that Amash could reach conservative voters in a way that Democrats cannot.
“To the extent that this can be bipartisan, it should, and I think including Representative Amash amongst the impeachment managers is a smart move both for the country, for the substance and for the optics,” Phillips told The Post, adding that Amash was “the first and only member of the Republican conference, when he was a Republican, to show courage.”
“There couldn’t be anyone perhaps in the entire U.S. House . . . whose general political views are as polar opposite from many of us in the Democratic Caucus, and that’s what makes it such a powerful statement: that on the issue of our responsibility to our Constitution, we are perfectly aligned,” Phillips added.
No Republicans back impeachment push:
The push to add Amash comes as not a single Republican appears to be prepared to vote to impeach Trump.
“Discussions about Amash are particularly timely given the news that Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a moderate Democrat from New Jersey, is expected to change parties, in part out of frustration with his own colleagues for pursuing what he calls a partisan and divisive impeachment based on ‘hearsay,’” The Post reported. “Republicans are already salivating at the prospect of holding up the soon-to-be former Democrat as a prime example that the party has overreached with impeachment and is repelling more moderate Americans.”
Amash hits out at GOP:
Amash has not said whether he wants to be an impeachment manager or whether he would accept such a responsibility.
On Friday, he slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for telling Fox News he would coordinate the Senate trial with the White House.
He later ripped Sen. Lindsey Grahm for saying he is “not trying to pretend to be a fair juror” in the trial.
“Senator Graham has chosen to violate his oath to support and defend the Constitution, his oath to do impartial justice in an impeachment trial, and his duty to represent all the people of his state, not just those who share his political views or desire a particular outcome,” Amash wrote.
