Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Friday if special counsel Robert Mueller’s work concludes without a single collusion-related indictment, it will show there was no collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election.
{mosads}Meadows, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and an ally of Trump’s, made the remarks on Twitter shortly after the news broke that Mueller had delivered his finished report to Attorney General William Barr.
Meadows was one of several Trump allies who seemed to see the release of the report as a victory for the president.
“The Mueller report delivery suggests no more indictments are coming from the Special Counsel,” Meadows wrote. “If that’s true, it would mean we just completed 2 years of investigating ‘Russian collusion’ without ONE collusion related indictment. Not even one.”
He added the reason why there are no additional indictments expected is “because there was no collusion.”
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) echoed Meadows sentiments in a statement to The Hill.
“The reports that there will be no new indictments confirm what we’ve known all along: there was never any collusion with Russia,” Scalise said. “I am glad Attorney General Barr will now be able to review the report, and I look forward to Congress being fully briefed on its findings, including the cost to taxpayers.”
No one outside the Department of Justice has seen Mueller’s report so far, though Barr said it’s possible he could tell the House and Senate Judiciary committees of his initial conclusions by the weekend.
Reporter Juliegrace Brufke contributed to this report.