Republican House Representative Mark Amodei has said would support President Donald Trump’s impeachment if the facts justified it.
Amodei, 61, of Nevada told reporters in Washington D.C. that he was yet to see any credible evidence that would suggest the President had broken the law.
An official inquiry was announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday over the allegations that Trump pressured the Ukrainian President to investigate political rival Joe Biden.
He asked for a favor in the call, after it emerged that Biden’s son Hunter was on the board of a gas firm Burisma Holdings that was being investigated for tax evasion and money laundering.
Republican House Representative Mark Amodei (above) has said that he would support impeaching President Donald Trump if he felt the evidence called for it
Trump’s conduct is being considered by Democrats who are hoping to impeach him. Amodei said that if Trump attempted to interview with the US election then there would be ‘a problem’
It’s claimed that Trump tried to put pressure on Ukrainian President (left) Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate political rival Joe Biden during their phone call. It’s alleged that by withholding military funds from the nation it could be seen as Trump using his leverage to dig-up dirt for the 2020 US Election
Prior to the call, it’s alleged that Trump instructed top aides to withhold foreign aid from the Ukraine to use as leverage.
The nation was using the funds to bolster their military defenses against Russian attacks.
Trump has denied that he did anything wrong and later released notes from his phone call with the Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
Amodei said there would be ‘a problem’ if it was proven that Trump tried to use his Office to influence the 2020 US election, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.
He added: ‘Everybody’s going to come to their own conclusions. That’s not unusual. Let’s put it through the process and see what happens.
‘If it’s proven you were using government agencies to try to put your finger on the scale of an election, then I don’t care who the president is, I don’t think that’s right.’
Commenting on the now infamous phone call, Amodei said: ‘If it was my statement and I had the ability to do it over, I would probably phrase it differently.
‘I don’t know that it’s a smoking gun.’
Amodei did not reveal what side he would take if impeachment was voted on this weekend.
He said that he read the transcript of Trump’s call and believed it offered Congress ‘something to discuss.’
Amodei later vented that he felt he was misquoted regarding his stance on impeachment
He released a statement where he explained that he would support impeachment if the evidence was there
Some initially praised Amodei for being a Republican on the record to support impeachment
Amodei told The Neveda Independent: ‘I want to see what the process produces. If it comes to the House floor, the question is, do I think there’s credible evidence (Trump) broke the law?
‘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.’
On Twitter, Amodei released a statement after he felt he was misquoted about his position on Trump and the possible impeachment.
He wrote: ‘Anyone who… thinks that somehow there is a vote to convict before the process has played out – as called for by the resolution unanimously supported by everyone concerned – is simply, individual fantasy.
‘I now have a full appreciation of how the President feels. Have a nice weekend.’
He stressed that his statement was merely meant to echo the words of Senator Cortez Mastro, a Nevada Democrat.
She said: ‘I think from all of that information, we have to follow the facts and figure out what happened here.’
Later, after Amodei responded to his belief that he was misquoted he was called ‘spineless’
Another suggested that the Republican party would abandon him
One Twitter user countered and argued that Amodei is safe until he retires
On Twitter, people initially praised Amodei’s actions as ‘brave’ due to their belief that he was one of the first Republicans to outwardly say he would support impeachment.
But later many criticized him for his clarification and felt the statement about waiting to consider evidence before making a decision was something all responsible politicians should do.
‘Whatever you think of Mark Amodei, it takes some serious guts to be the first Republican to support an impeachment inquiry,’ tweeted Josh Jordan.
Bryce Tache wrote: ‘Republicans WILL abandon him when the scope and severity of his crimes are irrefutable. Not all of them. But enough.’
Bryan Tyler Cohen countered: ‘And just like that, Amodei now denying that he supports an impeachment inquiry, despite reports quoting him saying so.’
User Daniel wrote: ‘Amodei is a Trump chump. We should expect nothing but docility from him.’
Jason Karsh responded: ‘Also, Amodei is in a super safe Republican district. He’s in that seat until he wants to retire.’
A mixture of criticism and support came out online for Amodei
One user took less of a favorable stance on the Nevada Republican