Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics

Trump Attacks GOP Rep As “Loser” For Supporting Impeachment

Rep. Justin Amash (R., Mich.) became the first Republican to call for the impeachment of President Donald Trump this weekend. There are ample grounds to questioning the existence of impeachable offenses. Yet, Sen. Mitt Romney (R., Utah) called Amash’s stand courageous. I agree that breaking from one’s party on an issue of conscience is worthy of respect even if one does not see the merits in the same fashion. However, President Trump stuck with his signature personal insults in calling Amash a “loser” who was motivated by a desire for attention. Once again, I fail to see why Trump engages in such unpresidential, low-grade attacks. It is not only demeaning to his office but ultimately self-defeating to his claims of innocence.

Amash tweeted that he had read the Special Counsel report carefully and concluded that Trump should be impeachment. He also attacked Attorney General William Barr as “deliberately misrepresenting” special counsel Robert Mueller’s report: “Contrary to Barr’s portrayal, Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment.”

I have previously written that I disagree with the claims that Barr’s summary was false or misleading and recently testified in Congress that the contempt sanction against Barr was unfounded and unfair.

Despite that view, I accept that people of good-faith can disagree on these issues. Indeed, the impeachment claims have been strengthened by Trump’s refusal to heed continued warnings from both commentators and key aides not to threaten prosecutors, publicly comment on the investigation, or reach out to key figures like former FBI Director James Comey on the status or direction of the investigation.

He is continuing to do so. After the statement from Amash, Trump tweeted “Never a fan of @justinamash, 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.” He added that, if Amash actually read the report,  “He would see that it was nevertheless strong on NO COLLUSION and, ultimately, NO OBSTRUCTION. 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!”

I have no problem with Trump’s references to the findings, though I wish he would stand aside from the debate. It is the personal insults and incivility that I find so troubling.

What do you think?

337 thoughts on “Trump Attacks GOP Rep As “Loser” For Supporting Impeachment”

  1. Justin Amash is a loser. His logic is based on the priesthood of libertarianism or worse and he has lost all sense of what he is seeing and hearing. Put them together and you have a man who lacks reason.

  2. i voted for him and will do so again, but wish he would just give it a rest, no none needs to comment on everything

    1. Did you know that pronouns are ambiguous, unless you use a proper name at some point along the way?

  3. Why are you amazed and continue to be surprised at Trumps behavior. He is a jerk and Prides himself on it!

  4. I’m still reserving judgment until the FULL context of the legally-weaponized attack on Trump using counterintelligence is uncovered. Why is this important? Because any acts of commission or omission by government officers aimed at entrapment of a Presidential candidate (and elected office-holder) would naturally seek to catch the President in process crimes (perjury and obstruction), leading to impeachment.

    To then ignore the larger context of devious, purposive entrapment by moving forward with obstruction charges simply rewards the entrapment plotters with fulfillment of their covert plot. This would be a pinnacle of political corruption. Let’s wait and hear from Horowitz, Huber and Durham before deciding on Volume 2 of the Mueller Report.

    It’s possible that misconducts were committed by both the Obama intelligence sector and the Trump Administration. Once the facts are known, each should be dealt with appropriately and proportionately.

    The most important “take home” is that the USG needs special “election integrity” units in law enforcement and intelligence, with officers all vetted for political neutrality, and methods of investigation streamlined for speed, and assuring the campaigns private legal conduct free of leal-weaponization-attacks.

  5. One of Amash’s quotes with regard to this was odd.

    “While impeachment should be undertaken only in extraordinary circumstances, the risk we face in an environment of extreme partisanship is not that Congress will employ it as a remedy too often but rather that Congress will employ it so rarely that it cannot deter misconduct.”

    This is a strange statement. It is extreme partisanship that led to the unfounded impeachment of Bill Clinton. And impeachment has been threatened on most of the Presidents since Nixon. If Trump were to be impeached, that would make 3 formal impeachment attempts from 1974 to the present. Rather than impeachment being rare as of late, the fact is that Congress has become impeachment happy.

    In addition, Amash’s non-libertarian, and non-legal, view on obstruction of justice would mean that public statements made to discredit Bill Barr are also obstruction of justice. We already have an overcriminalization problem. Amash of all people ought to understand that.

  6. I wouldn’t overvalue Amash to mean he thinks we’re “ready” for impeachment. There’s more to it than Trump’s conduct “meets the threshold”. He might walk that back once the Democrats try to pull him in with them. Also, Trump is just using the advantage the Mueller report gave him. He points out what a lot of Americans – not just William Barr – also believe: that we should give up on “obstruction” when no crime was committed, because it’s a stupid waste time to connect the dots for that when there’s nothing that you need to hide anyway. Also, I don’t see his public criticisms of prosecutors as “threats”. They are the comments of anyone attacking his political enemies in public.

  7. Looking back in time to the last 75 years there has been no president better than Harry Truman. Give Em Hell Harry was given that nickname before he took the oval office. Some commenter above mentioned Harry. The worst we had since Truman was Tricky Dick. JFK was a phony. JFK got us into Vietnam. Hurry on down. LBJ was very good. Civil Rights Act.
    Now we have Trump. He yaks too much but he has been good on some issues. Keep your money in the stock market if you are in there. The movement of the Embassy to Jerusalem was a good thing. JFK and the others did not have the guts.

    We do not need a new war.
    We need a Wall. Or a Fence.
    Mexico needs a Wall on its southern border.

    My real name is not Liberty 2nd. It’s Maddog.

    1. Maddog, What’s your take on Jimmy Carter?

      Jimmy’s policies in Nicaragua, Iran & Afghanistan? Triple play.

  8. PROFESSOR TURLEY NOTES THE ‘MADNESS OF KING DONALD’

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 2h2 hours ago

    ….he would see that it was nevertheless strong on NO COLLUSION and, ultimately, NO OBSTRUCTION…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!

    8,419 replies 7,564 retweets 31,450 likes

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 2h2 hours ago

    Never a fan of @justinamash, 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. If he actually read the biased Mueller Report, “composed” by 18 Angry Dems who hated Trump,….

    8,979 replies 8,606 retweets 33,883 likes
    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    Insanely Trump portrays the Mueller Report as “biased” and “composed by 18 angry Dems who hated Trump”. Nevertheless Trump asserts the report was “strong on no collusion” and “no obstruction”.

    Is it rationale for Trump to think “18 angry Dems” would compose a “biased” report that’s “strong on no collusion”..???

    One has to wonder if Donald Trump suffers from dementia. Of if Trump could possibly have a drug problem. Because these tweets are not the comments of a sane and rational man. What’s more, this is not a new development. Trump’s tweets have been irrational since the beginning of his presidency.

    A generation from now, historians will examine Trump’s daily tweets and struggle to understand why the American public didn’t recognize Trump’s impaired mental state.

    1. “why the American public didn’t recognize Trump’s impaired mental state.”

      This is coming from an unbalanced person.

    2. TRUMP is very sober unlike some former POTUS. this is well known.

      it’s a scurrilous slander against him to suggest he’s on drugs. shows how low you have sunk these days

      old age dementia is a more plausible concern, but not supported by facts either

  9. JT: “It is the personal insults and incivility that I find so troubling.”

    Poor JT is troubled by incivility from the President after they spent 3 years investigating him on laughable charges made up by Hillary. LOL. That’s why we voted for him! He gives as good as he gets and then some.

    The only thing the opposition to Trump can do is “call” for impeachment and never follow through. How pathetic. We desperately want the Dems to impeach, but it will never happen. Meanwhile, Barr is investigating the blatantly corrupt investigators.

    This is a time of joy for Trump and his supporters as the day of reckoning for the conspirators draws near. Sweet summer has arrived early. You can hear the weasels wailing already trying to spin their illegal misconduct. Let them wail before a jury of their peers. All perfectly timed for Trump’s reelection. Well done Democrats. Yes, the wait was worth it.

    1. “Poor JT is troubled by incivility from the President”

      Ivan, I like the Professor but he seems to value politeness more than he does the spirit of the action. If Trump and another person were engaged in a wrestling match and Trump’s opponent shot him but said, ‘I’m sorry’ while using an elegant pistol, that might seem reasonable to JT, but if Trump responded with some harsh words while throwing sand at his gun wielding opponent JT would probably remark that Trump was uncivil.

      1. JT has good manners, I can’t fault him for that as a university guy

        leave the gutter to us, we can handle it

        1. Kurtz, JT’s position requires manners and he has them. Though it may not appear so I have them as well and generally use them in business and personal relationships but I don’t hesitate to get into the gutter if I am dealing with a ‘street trash’ attitude and need to. That is one of the things I like about Alan Dershowitz. I have seen this polite man ‘street fight’ though he does so elegantly

          1. yeah Dersh is super tough and calm i like him more as i get older

    2. “joy” would entail more than just due process. i don’t see “joy” on the horizon. a reckoning of accounts, at best

  10. There are not many presidents who, during their presidency, have not hurled personal insults at their political foes.
    The fact that President Trump does it in a more plain spoken manner is fine with me. It reiminds me of Harry Truman.

    1. P.S. The choice of words in the headline is interesting. Trump “attacks” Congressman for “supporting” impeachment.
      “Attack” is very negative, while “supporting” sounds like a positive word. This sends the message that Trump has accosted a person who is simply “supporting” (impeachment).
      Which is more of an attack: Announcing that you want a sitting president impeached? Or calling someone who wants you impeached “a loser”?

      1. Excellent Cindy. I just made a similar statement but it didn’t seem to register on the blog though it came through in the mail. I added a dot after my name to see if it would make the comment stick.

      2. Exactly Cindy!

        I don’t hate P Turley, I just don’t understand why he can’t see his TDS.

        I mean this crazy Commie/Fascist Dems have been violently attacking, calling for murder & have cause harm for near 3 years & Turley seems to wish to pretend it isn’t happening.

        Hell, some illegal Kenyan SOB just killed at least 12 elderly women in/around Dallas & yet P Turley is what to blind to see that Trump is right, that there is an Emergency at the Mex Border.

        How in the hell does one say something civil about that?

        1. Oky1………hope you and your wife are doing well, north of the Red R.

          1. Cindy,

            Thanks for our thoughts, I’ve been thinking/praying your family & many others recently between the weather, world events & then just getting through life the best we all can.

            I admit I often have trouble remembering the golden rule when I see people I care about under attack from others from so many directions.

            At least here in the mid west there remains many respectable people that know the simple things such as open doors for women & other such common acts of human decency.

            BTW. About a month or so you said you took a day trip with your grandson, Frederickson I think? Something about some flowers.

            I didn’t have the time to ask then, but wondered if those happened to be some fields of Blue Bonnets I’ve heard about?

            Knock on wood, my nice size patch of giant sunflowers are coming along nice.

            I think fields of flowers make most of us smile for some reason. 🙂

            1. Oky1…..Yes! Bluebonnets! Great memory there! We have Lady Bird Johnson to thank for having wildflowers, especially bluebonnets, planted and maintained along Texas highways.
              When she passed away, the public was invited to bring bunches of wildflowers to downtown Austin, stand along Congress Ave, and toss the flowers onto her hearse as it left the Capitol, on its way to the Johnson ranch. It was a very poignant sight. Texans loved her ( though many, like myself loathed Lyndon)

              1. Blue Bonnets, that’s fantastic! I still plant stuff even though I know I’ll never see it at it’s peak. even ideas.

                San Francisco had electricity around 1900, that one farm we owned 1st had electric in 1947.

                There is no telling where things we plant today will end up decades later if we plant them with good thoughts in our hearts

                  1. Cindy,

                    Interesting I told you about that last night & you reply lil before I get back on tonight.

                    The reason I was thinking of Greg Hunter was because about 5 or 6 weeks ago I posted that Ventusky weather map that showed that massive snow/rain storm that pulled out of Colorado into W Okla, 90 deg turn North up through Ks Nebraska, then on East.

                    Short of the long is that storm did massive damage to Mid West Agriculture.

                    Greg’s last Friday’s show shows video of the families flooded farm fields are still flooded from 5/6 weeks ago.

                    Yesterday morning/the day & this morning along comes another massive storm with almost the exact same signature came blowing through here & is now passing through most of the Mid West East of here tonight.

                    Tornadoes, wind damage & flooding everywhere & we’ll likely see some of the damage reports tomorrow.

                    Knock on wood we’ve dodged a small tornado this morning here out towards Owasso/Collinsville/Claremore area. Just like playing the lotto here in the M West every year isn’t. LOL;)

                    The one rain gauge only went to 5 inches so just in case I put an empty 5 gallon bucket out yesterday morning.

                    Today it was about half full, measured it, 7 inches on the driveway, now times an average across a large part of Oklahoma & that storm look to me earlier tonight just getting wound up. A lot of the old flood plains are setting records.

                    I’m thinking people may be relearning why they should pray.

                    1. Oky1…….I was just thinking about y’all in that Tulsa area! I had no idea til now because I haven’t seen news all day.
                      Stay safe, and hug each other.
                      Thinking of y’all and all my Okie friends!

                    2. Cindy,

                      Knock on wood my wife’s last to tests came back clean & she’s been working out to get in better shape . Anyway, she bought one of these cheap “Fitbit”s? You wear it on your wrist like a watch, but what do I know as a bit of a Luddite. It counts things like steps walked during the day.

                      She liked the concept & bought one that had a lot more features & give me the cheap one to try.

                      I’m starting to like it. I’ll look at it & think to myself, damn, I’ve only walked that far today, I know I can do better then that & then I do.

                      I’ve been looking around, it seems a lot of people are wearing them.

                      It seems to give us an easy way to measure ourselves against ourselves.

                    4. How does that go? I used search to check;)

                      “there but for the grace of God, go I”

                      ( All of us)

    2. While Truman may have also “hurled personal insults”…

      “Why Donald Trump can never be like Harry S Truman”

      “It seems Donald Trump has forgotten where the great fortune he inherited came from in the first place. Can the global vision of America’s 33rd president survive the nation’s current ‘casino boss’ narcissist?”

      https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/donald-trump-vs-harry-s-truman

      BY MATT KELLY, Editor of the New European

      Thursday 12 July 2018

      1. Anonymous……..Oh wow…GQ! I don’t think my brain is intellectually potent enough to comprehend the mensa-worthy musings found in GQ. Culture, cuisine, fashion…..the mind races.

        1. And “Oh wow…”, Cindy Bragg! (Now there’s a source: Cindy Bragg.)

          (Your loss, Cindy. Spread your “feeble” wings a little.)

                  2. Well, we know what’s been said about “ladies” and well-behaved women.

                    2. “They succeed where their opposites fail?”

                      Puddin’ head comes up short. Again.

                    3. What a weak and ineffectual response again by Brainless Anonymous. Better call in one of your better alter egos.

          2. “Jim Nelson was put atop the masthead. Nelson, only 40, hinted at his plans. “I do think we spend a bit too much time in that kind of timeless nostalgic thing,” he said. “And my inclination is to make it more of the moment, to be engaged in the culture.”

            “By most measures, Nelson succeeded: GQ went in-depth on a vast number of topics, including a Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a Russian serial killer, a resurgent Axl Rose, and suicide chat rooms.

            There were National Magazine Awards nearly every year since 2007 and a Pulitzer Prize for Rachel Ghansah’s portrait of Dylann Roof.” -Columbia Journalism Review.

            https://www.cjr.org/q_and_a/the-future-of-mens-magazines-as-jim-nelson-leaves-gq.php

            A Most American Terrorist: The Making of Dylann Roof by Rachel Ghansah

            https://www.gq.com/story/dylann-roof-making-of-an-american-terrorist

            Jeanne Marie Laskas, the author of “Concussion” and a number of other books writes for GQ.

        2. Some of the best and most informative articles I’ve ever read have been in mags like Playboy and Penthouse.

          https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/gq-magazine/

          About GQ:

          Though it is known to be a “left of center” magazine, it gets high marks for “factual reporting.”

          “Factual Reporting: HIGH”

          “Notes: GQ (formerly Gentlemen’s Quarterly) is an international monthly men’s magazine based in New York City. The publication focuses on fashion, style, and culture for men, though articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, travel, sports, technology, books and politics are also featured. GQ has a left wing political bias in reporting, but they generally are factual and source their information. Has been accused of sexism. (12/13/2016) (Updated D. Van Zandt 7/19/2017)”

            1. ” I do know all about GQ…”

              Not as much as you think you do, obviously.

        3. Cindy:

          Hey GQ taught me how to tie a bow tie. They got that going for them. So why shouldn’t they be cited as authoritative.

          1. We know you’re a lawyer, mespo, but you sure sound like a puddin’ head at times.

            About GQ:

            “Jim Nelson was put atop the masthead. Nelson, only 40, hinted at his plans. “I do think we spend a bit too much time in that kind of timeless nostalgic thing,” he said. “And my inclination is to make it more of the moment, to be engaged in the culture.”

            “By most measures, Nelson succeeded: GQ went in-depth on a vast number of topics, including a Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a Russian serial killer, a resurgent Axl Rose, and suicide chat rooms.

            There were National Magazine Awards nearly every year since 2007 and a Pulitzer Prize for Rachel Ghansah’s portrait of Dylann Roof.” -Columbia Journalism Review.

            https://www.cjr.org/q_and_a/the-future-of-mens-magazines-as-jim-nelson-leaves-gq.php

            A Most American Terrorist: The Making of Dylann Roof by Rachel Ghansah

            https://www.gq.com/story/dylann-roof-making-of-an-american-terrorist

            Jeanne Marie Laskas, the author of “Concussion” and a number of other books writes for GQ.

          2. mespo….I remember that issue! LOL
            Please allow me to apologize for not appreciating GQ’s invaluable influence on legal menswear.😊

            1. Navy with white polka dots have never been the same. All hail GQ! haberdasher to the legal profession and half-American British Prime Minsters!

              1. Aren’t you two a laugh riot and ridin’ high.

                The following GQ article won a Pulitzer, as noted earlier, and is written by a woman who verbally dances circles around both of you. It’s not about “navy with white polka dots” or “how to tie a bow tie.”

                “A Most American Terrorist: The Making of Dylann Roof”

                by Rachel Ghansah

                https://www.gq.com/story/dylann-roof-making-of-an-american-terrorist

  11. I read through Amash’s argument. It is sound. What I like about his writing is that he sticks with facts and shows how these facts contravene our Constitution. One can argue that these facts do not amount to violations of our Constitution and/or grounds for impeachment, but that is where the argument must be taken on.

    I agree with Anonymous when they say that Trump’s personal attacks are simply a con man playing to his base. His base, despite Trump having filled his administration with people who would please Hillary Clinton, believes he is a maverick. They love to hear his rough language because he is ever so bold!! Why he’s an outlier they say! Yeah, that’s why he appointed all the neocons and neoliberals to his court! What an outlier he is! Wake up, this is just like the Obama bots who to this day think Obama was/is playing 12 dimensional chess.

  12. “Yet, Sen. Mitt Romney (R., Utah) called Amash’s stand courageous.” Sorry, JT. Grandstanding and courageous are not synonyms.

  13. Amash is a globalist swamp creature with clear conflicts of interest against a president who is slapping tariffs on China and encouraging Americans to buy American.

    Watch videos of Amash in his 2010 campaign deliberately deceiving the public (FAR more than anything Barr said):
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/05/18/republican-justin-amash-calls-for-impeachment-while-holding-personal-business-interests-in-china/

    He makes his money by running a business that finds and procures Chinese-made tools, which he imports to the US. He strongly opposes not only tariffs, but anyone encouraging that American consumers buy American products.

    On top of that, he’s been a “Never Trumper” from the time Trump announced. He’s no different than hacks like Bill Kristol when it comes to his hatred of Trump overshadowing everything he says.

    The people who vote for him deserve to know the truth – that he imports Chinese-made tools instead of hiring Americans and making them here.

    1. Your comments are ridiculous. You attack Amash for “crimes” that Trump is guilty of. Trump made all his products in China and hires illegal immigrants at his properties….. Instead of engaging in ad hominem attacks you should read the Mueller Report. Ten instances of obstruction!!

  14. It is the personal insults and incivility that I find so troubling.

    Your blog is awash in these. your webmaster tried to curb the aforementioned yet, because your only concern is web traffic on your blog, the stink grows daily even if it means a sea of personal insults and incivility

    Moral relativism doesn’t look any better when you do it Jonathan.

  15. JT, I think you’re a concern troll perpetually wringing your hands over jay walking charges against Democrats and Republicans like this one while missing the hit and run by Barr and Trump, both liars, though the former is a much more skilled practitioner. Why don’t you wake the hell up. The President’s behavior is not harmful to him, another of your many “concerns” – he’s a skilled con man who knows his audiences – marks in the industry. He’s harming the country you claim to care about while ignoring this fact.

    That’s what I think. Thanks for asking.

  16. I think Amash should stand aside from the debate.

    Let John H. Durham investigate the investigators. As JT stated in his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee, “You are in for a world of hurt”.

  17. Justin Amash is one of the most libertarian members of Congress, and a strict Constitutionalist. I respect his opinion, and think he would make a good, solid candidate for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination.

  18. Amash’s contention is that Trump is guilty of obstruction of justice – when there is no underlying crime and when he did not invoke executive privilege. (Amash, by the way, never practiced law). How bad does an argument have to be before you conclude it’s a pretext?

    Some of what’s eating Amash is here:

    https://cis.org/North/Who-Are-Odd-Eight-House-Crossed-Party-Lines-Wall

    Libertarians are not your friends. Ever.

    1. A bi-partisan group of 900 former federal prosecutors claim Trump engaged in obstruction of justice.

      1. Mueller and Weismann, both enemies of Trump, spent 32 months trying to hang a crime on him (including obstruction) and failed, contenting themselves with PR moves and a lot of bellyaching about his tweets.

        The ‘bipartisan’ modifier used above is cute.

      2. Andy:

        Easy letter to sign when you have no skin in the game or a FISA contempt citation steamrolling down the hill. We haven’t heard the last word from the FISA judges yet. It is however a handy shorthand list of politicized prosecutors who’d rather be play acting at prosecuting rather that actually doing it.

    2. Absurd x 8:

      (Amash, by the way, never practiced law).
      ******************

      That’s painfully obvious when ol’ Lawmaker Justin here decided the feds had overstepped their boundaries in enforcing FEDERAL drinking water regulations in the Flint Michigan drinking water debacle which they did only AFTER the state and local guys did exactly nothing but wring their hands.

      It’s a trick as old as Lewis’ “Elmer Gantry”: Get the “convert”; parade him around as a soul lost and now found; and then ask for donations. Who knows? Maybe old Amash will leap to his feet on the House floor, arms in the air and proclaim loudly that Pelosi really did make his broken watch work again.

      Hallelujah! Stand Up!! Testify!!!

  19. As the media continues its barrage against the President, I can understand his disgust and frustration. If the media will not repeat honestly, he is justified.

    1. Why is the President correct?…..Amash read the Mueller Report and concluded that President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct… obviously you have not read the Mueller Report or you would have reached the same conclusion as Amash and Mueller.

      1. Andy, the reports conclusion was no collusion and no obstruction.

        Was there any other charge that the rest of us missed?

    2. That you had “never heard of Amash until his rant” tells us that you haven’t been paying attention. This is to Shannon.

        1. Anonymous’s comment (“tells us that you haven’t been paying attention.This is to Shannon.”) was made to provide anonymous with intellectual credence, something she doesn’t have. She felt that by stabbing someone in the back she could use the body to step out of the sewer.

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