With Representative Justin Amash publicly announcing that he wants the president impeached – becoming the first Republican to do so – the press began to salivate over the prospect of other Republicans joining him. Enter Mitt Romney…

… who promptly slapped down the idea of some kind of GOP revolt in favor of impeachment.

“My own view is that Justin Amash has reached a different conclusion than I have. I respect him, I think it’s a courageous statement,” Romney told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

“The American people just aren’t there,” he added. “The Senate is certainly not there, either.”

Romney, who represents Utah and served as the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, said he spent two full days reading special counsel Robert Mueller’s report and concluded the investigation did not uncover enough evidence to make an obstruction of justice case against Trump.”

“I just don’t think that there is the full element that you need to prove an obstruction of justice case,” Romney said. “I don’t think impeachment is the right way to go.”

Amash, in his comments on Saturday, said the Mueller report contained “multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice.” Romney, who was sharply critical of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, stopped far short of saying the same.”

“I don’t think a prosecutor would actually look at this and say, OK, we have here all the elements that would get this to a conviction,” Romney said.

Naturally, those who wanted a GOP insurgency against President Trump are upset, because Romney just squashed all their bipartisan impeachment dreams. But Romney is exactly right in this case.

Remember, Robert Mueller was in a position to make a recommendation on actual charges against the president. He did not. Even though it’s pretty clear that his legal team went over every detail they had, the report itself declines to make a call on obstruction charges. Mueller punted to Attorney General Barr. Barr made the decision to not pursue obstruction. Now, also remember that Barr’s summary is made moot in the face of the report being available to the public to read (albeit with the retractions that were made for legal reasons). Justin Amash can call obstruction and want impeachment all he wants. The House could certainly vote to impeach along party lines if they so chose. However, impeachment trials are heard in the Senate. There is no way the current makeup of the Senate will vote to convict. Senator Romney is reading the room correctly.

Does Amash have ulterior motives in making this announcement? Possibly. Will he find other allies among the current GOP members of Congress to support his call for impeachment? If he can’t get Mitt Romney on board, then the answer is no.

Featured image: Senator Mitt Romney on CNN, May 19, 2019 (screenshot via CNN on YouTube)