McConnell fundraising off ‘case closed’ speech

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sent out fundraising blasts on Tuesday after taking to the Senate floor to slam Democrats over their reaction to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

“Today, I went to the Senate floor to tell the Democrats: it’s time to finally end this spectacle, come back to reality, and accept there was no collusion. Donate if you agree!” McConnell’s campaign tweeted.

Today, I went to the Senate floor to tell the Democrats: it’s time to finally end this spectacle, come back to reality, and accept there was no collusion. Donate if you agree!

— Team Mitch (@Team_Mitch) May 7, 2019

“The Mueller Report was clear: There was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. CASE CLOSED,” the Kentucky Republican said in a fundraising request emailed to supporters. 

Mitch McConnell is now fundraising off the Mueller report and the “case closed” Senate floor speech he delivered today – h/t @KellyO pic.twitter.com/F0eOnOVFoT

— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) May 7, 2019

Earlier Tuesday, the Senate majority leader gave a speech declaring that it’s time for Democrats to move on from the two-year probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

{mosads}”What we’ve seen is a meltdown, an absolute meltdown, an inability to accept the bottom-line conclusion on Russian interference from the special counsel’s report,” McConnell said from the Senate floor. “My Democratic colleagues seem to be publicly working through the five stages of grief.” 

“Baseless accusations of perjury, laughable threats of impeachment. Look, we all know what’s going on here, the whole angry barrage the Democrats had prepared to unleash on President Trump — except the facts let them down,” he continued. “They are slandering a distinguished public servant because the real world has disappointed them.”

Congressional Democrats and Republicans are currently in an intense feud over Mueller’s final conclusions. While Republicans echo McConnell’s sentiments, Democrats are doubling down on oversight efforts in the House. McConnell’s speech comes as House Democrats continue to seek testimony from Mueller and administration officials and demand an unredacted copy of the special counsel’s final conclusions. 

Mueller did not find sufficient evidence of coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow in 2016 to bring any charges of criminal conspiracy against President Trump, but did not exonerate the president regarding alleged obstruction of justice. Attorney General William Barr and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said they would not bring any obstruction charges after reviewing Mueller’s underlying evidence.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) slammed McConnell’s Tuesday remarks, accusing his Republican counterpart of trying to “whitewash” Mueller’s findings, and likening his floor speech to “Richard Nixon saying let’s move on at the height of the investigation of his wrongdoing.”

McConnell is aligning himself closely with Trump as he runs for reelection next year. His Tuesday speech marked the most extensive remarks the Kentucky Republican has made on the Mueller report thus far.