Donald Trump’s reelection prospects may have just gotten a little brighter.
Attorney general William Barr’s March 24 letter to Congress summing up the FBI special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation states clearly that the probe found no evidence of collusion or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, which interfered in the 2016 election.
A little over an hour after the letter was released, the Trump 2020 reelection team was campaigning off of it, claiming in a statement that the president had been “completely and fully vindicated” by the special counsel. (The special counsel specifically said the president was not “exonerated” by the evidence on obstruction, Barr noted.)
Today marks the day that President Trump has been completely and fully vindicated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, exposing the Russia collusion conspiracy theory for the sham that it always was and catching Democrats in an elaborate web of lies and deceit…The American people should take notice: the Democrats have lied to you, while President Trump has been hard at work building a booming economy and making you safer.
Minutes later, the campaign put out a video urging Trump supporters to text “Witchhunt” to a number to pledge their support and make campaign donations:
Trump has tweeted 84 times about Mueller himself, mostly insults and allegations that he and the investigation are biased. In April 2018, he called Mueller “conflicted” and the investigation “fake.”
In July 2018, Trump said the investigation was a “rigged witch hunt,” and “illegal scam” headed by “angry Democrats.” Mueller is a lifelong Republican:
After the Barr letter was made public today, Trump told reporters that the allegations were the “most ridiculous thing ever,” but noted that Mueller had taken a “long look” at the situation.
The Trump reelection campaign has already raised nearly $130 million (paywall), according to Federal Election Committee disclosures in late January. His Democratic challengers are starting from a much lower fundraising base.