Democrats hold a 235-198 majority in the House. Therefore, impeachment is certainly within their means. But what about adding-on some Republican comrades?
Enter a congressman from Nevada.
Rep. Mark Amodei has become the first GOP lawmaker to express support for the impeachment of Donald J. Trump.
And he was none too shy about it. The politician told reporters during a conference call the process should be pursued. Let the show begin:
“I’m a big fan of oversight, so let’s let the committees get to work and see where it goes.”
Novel move.
It sounds as if he believes Trump may be guilty:
“Using government agencies to, if it’s proven, to put your finger on the scale of an election, I don’t think that’s right. If it turns out that it’s something along those lines, then there’s a problem.”
Or perhaps it was more of a philosophical “if.”
It may have been.
And here’s a big wrench thrown into what I just laid out: After the call, Mark backtracked quite a ways.
How’s this for a confusing follow-up statement:
“In no way, shape, or form did I indicate support for impeachment.”
From The Independent:
“If it was my statement and I had the ability to do it over, I would probably phrase it differently,” he said. “I don’t know that it’s a smoking gun.”
“I think that’s why we have the committee process. I won’t attribute what was in the president’s mind. That wasn’t a great way to express concern about it. Part of what the committees will do is try to find some context for that and then based on what a fair reading of the context is, they’ll go forward from there.”
Unlike surely many Republicans, the representative for Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District doesn’t believe the whole impeachment hubbub is a political maneuver by Trump’s adversaries:
The Nevada Republican dismissed the notion, raised by Trump, that the issue was raised by political enemies in the government looking for any reason to depose him. He noted that Trump has a reputation for coming out hard when he feels like he’s being attacked, but said the issue is one of law. “I don’t care if it was a partisan spy or not,” Amodei said. “The only thing I get a vote on is, if it comes to the House floor… do I think that there is evidence there that is credible, that says he broke a specific law?”
The Independent observed that Mark “expects to be the chairman of the Trump campaign in Nevada.
Doesn’t sound like Trump’s kinda guy.
I now have a full appreciation of how the President feels. My full statement here: https://t.co/DhZV6DUztl
Have a nice weekend.
— RepMarkAmodei (@MarkAmodeiNV2) September 27, 2019
-ALEX
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The post Did Impeachment Just Get its First Republican Congressional Endorsement? ‘Let’s…See Where it Goes’ appeared first on RedState.