A Republican congressman has become the first of President Donald Trump's party to accuse him of "impeachable conduct" stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russian meddling investigation.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Michigan's Justin Amash stopped short on Saturday of calling on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump, which many Democrats have been agitating for.
Often a lone GOP voice in Congress, Amash sent a series of tweets faulting both Trump and Attorney General William Barr over Mueller's report.
Mueller wrapped the investigation and submitted his report to Barr in late March.
Barr then released a summary of Mueller's "principal conclusions" and released a redacted version of the report in April.
Mueller found no criminal conspiracy between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia but left open the question of whether Trump acted in ways that were meant to obstruct the investigation.
Barr later said there was insufficient evidence to bring obstruction charges against Trump.
Trump, who has compared the investigation to a "witch hunt," claimed complete exoneration from Mueller's report.
Amash said he reached four conclusions after carefully reading the redacted version of Mueller's report, including that "President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct".
"Contrary to Barr's portrayal, Mueller's report reveals President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behaviour that meet the threshold for impeachment," the congressman tweeted.
He said the report "identifies multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice, and undoubtedly any person who is not the president of the United States would be indicted based on such evidence."
The Justice Department, which Barr leads, operates under guidelines that discourage the indictment of a sitting president.
Australian Associated Press