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'Today is a great day for the country,' Meadows says

By Bill Moss, Published: March 25, 2019

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, one of President Trump's strongest supporters in Congress, declared that "the clock has finally struck midnight on the Russian collusion fantasy" after the Mueller report failed to produce evidence that the Trump campaign worked with Russians in the 2016 presidential campaign.

"After 22 months, 2 years of congressional investigations, several millions in taxpayer dollars, and zero evidence uncovered—the clock has finally struck midnight on the Russian collusion fantasy," Meadows said in a statement. "Attorney General Barr’s statement today should end the debate. There was no collusion. There was no obstruction. It’s over."

"But today’s verdict should send a message well beyond the fact that there was no collusion," he said. "What the public needs to understand: there never was any evidence of collusion to begin with. This wasn’t an investigation of a probable crime. It was an unwarranted investigation of a person—President Trump."

Meadows, who was also interviewed on CNN on Sunday, also endorsed the release of the full report and the underlying document, suggesting that doing so would expose an effort by the FBI and Department of Justice to "retaliate against a legitimately elected President."

"In the interest of transparency, we can expect Americans will be able to see more details on the report in the coming days," he said. "But make no mistake: transparency should not stop there. The public deserves to see the interviews, documents, and intelligence that 'justified' this investigation in the first place—the release of which several of my colleagues and I have been advocating for for over a year. Let’s not stop at the report. Let Americans see the underlying documents. Let them decide for themselves whether this investigation was warranted—or whether it was a two year long episode of political targeting, driven by FBI and DOJ executives who wanted to retaliate against a legitimately elected President.

"I’m grateful this two year distraction is finally over," he said. "Today is a great day for the country, because as we’ve known all along, it was hardworking Americans who elected President Trump—not Russians.”