Rep. Justin Amash Criticizes Dem Questioning of Turley: ‘Need to Persuade People in the Middle’
Independent Rep. Justin Amash, who supports impeaching President Donald Trump, said the Democrats made a number of strategic errors in questioning Jonathan Turley on Thursday.
Amash, who left the GOP over impeachment, detailed his concerns in a Twitter thread Thursday, noting “Turley said Trump’s call was ‘anything but perfect.’ Why didn’t Democrats ask him to expound on this?”
“Democrats made a strategic error in not engaging more with Turley. They need to persuade people in the middle,” Amash said, saying Democratic lawmakers made a mistake not drilling into Turley.
When making historical comparisons or discussing standards of proof, Prof. Turley, like Judiciary Republicans, consistently conflates impeachment in the House and trial in the Senate. The House simply *charges* impeachable offenses, and there’s clearly probable cause for charges.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) December 5, 2019
Democrats made a strategic error in not engaging more with Turley. They need to persuade people in the middle and missed an opportunity by spending most of their time questioning their experts rather than Turley, whose testimony was potentially most damaging to President Trump.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) December 5, 2019
Turley said Trump’s call was “anything but perfect.” Why didn’t Democrats ask him to expound on this? Turley also said impeachment might be justified with a complete record. They should have pressed him repeatedly on the White House’s responsibility for denying certain evidence.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) December 5, 2019
Turley acknowledged that Trump’s actions were improper, potentially impeachable, and worthy of further investigation. Democrats failed to capitalize on these admissions from a GOP legal scholar because they were too busy obtaining less effective testimony from their own experts.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) December 5, 2019
Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, was the GOP witness in the House Judiciary hearing on impeachment yesterday. The witnesses were called for constitutional expertise and were not fact witnesses.
