President Trump led a victory parade of Republican lawmakers and White House insiders after a summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation released on Sunday showed no evidence of collusion with Russia.
An hour after the four-page letter from Attorney General William Barr was released, Trump claimed “total exoneration” on Twitter. Boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, the president called Mueller’s probe an “illegal takedown that failed.”
Dan Scavino, the White House director of social media, was one of the first out of the blocks, posting on his personal Twitter account minutes after report. Brad Parscale, manager of Trump’s re-election campaign, expressed similar sentiments.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, fresh off a round of golf with Trump in Florida, tweeted three times in quick succession, saying “the cloud” hanging over the president “has been removed.” He also lauded a “great job” by Mueller for the 22-month investigation into whether Trump and his campaign colluded with Russia in 2016. It’s now time to move on, Graham concluded.
Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, an ally of Trump, was succinct. “No collusion! No Obstruction! It’s time to move on.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said in a statement that Mueller’s conclusions “confirm the President’s account that there was no effort by his campaign to conspire or coordinate with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.”
McConnell added, however, that “Russia’s ongoing efforts to interfere with our democracy are dangerous and disturbing, and I welcome the special counsel’s contributions to our efforts to understand better Russia’s activities in this regard.”
Read William Barr’s Letter to Congress on Robert Mueller’s Probe Mueller Finds No Trump Collusion; Barr Sees No Obstruction Case Mueller Leaves Obstruction Question to Barr, Who Clears Trump Democrats Face Their Voters’ Impeachment Fever as Mueller EndsRepresentative Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that “the special counsel’s investigation was long, thorough and conclusive: There was no collusion. There is no constitutional crisis.”
The findings of the Department of Justice are a total and complete exoneration of the president, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in an emailed statement.
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., told Bloomberg News in an email that “the Mueller Report proves what those of us with sane minds have known all along, there was ZERO collusion with Russia.”