--- title: Trump Allies Praise Reports of No New Mueller Indictments description: Trump's allies are celebrating news that Robert Mueller reportedly recommends no further indictments. But Trump isn't in the clear yet. canonical: https://time.com/5557491/trump-allies-mueller-no-new-indictments/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-23T15:19:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T00:17:24.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: No One Knows What’s in the Mueller Report. Here’s Why This Republican Is Claiming Vindication Anyway og:description: In truth, Mueller's investigation has already led to a slew of indictments og:url: https://time.com/5557491/trump-allies-mueller-no-new-indictments/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce0f83ced73b3814/6989473b656a3fb772bd6d43/steve-scalise-mueller-report.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5153 og:image:height: 2899 og:image:alt: House GOP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: No One Knows What’s in the Mueller Report. Here’s Why This Republican Is Claiming Vindication Anyway twitter:description: In truth, Mueller's investigation has already led to a slew of indictments twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce0f83ced73b3814/6989473b656a3fb772bd6d43/steve-scalise-mueller-report.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # No One Knows What’s in the Mueller Report. Here’s Why This Republican Is Claiming Vindication Anyway > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Kathy Ehrich Dowd](https://time.com/author/kathy-dowd/) ## Kathy Ehrich Dowd Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:17 AM UTCPublished: Mar 23, 2019 3:19 PM UTC  House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., center, conducts a news conference after a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on Wednesday, March 6, 2019\. On Friday, Scalise issued a statement on the Mueller report, calling allegations of collusion between President Trump and Russia a "lie." House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., center, conducts a news conference after a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on Wednesday, March 6, 2019\. On Friday, Scalise issued a statement on the Mueller report, calling allegations of collusion between President Trump and Russia a "lie."Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call,Inc. by [Kathy Ehrich Dowd](https://time.com/author/kathy-dowd/) ## Kathy Ehrich Dowd Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:17 AM UTCPublished: Mar 23, 2019 3:19 PM UTC Attorney General [William Barr](http://time.com/5557334/mueller-report-william-barr-letter-congress/) has not yet sent the [conclusions of the Mueller report to Congress](http://time.com/5557315/mueller-report-trump/), but that didn’t stop some Republicans from claiming vindication. Although House Republican Whip Steve Scalise has not yet seen the report for himself, he nevertheless commented on reports that Mueller did not recommend any new indictments, claiming that it proves there was no collusion between Trump and Russia. In truth, [Mueller’s investigation has already led to a slew of indictments, guilty pleas or convictions](http://time.com/5556331/mueller-investigation-indictments-guilty-pleas/) from 34 people and three companies, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, and close ally Roger Stone. But Scalise and other Trump allies seized on news reported in outlets including the [New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/us/politics/the-mueller-report-release.html) and the [Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mueller-report-sent-to-attorney-general-signaling-his-russia-investigation-has-ended/2019/03/22/b061d8fa-323e-11e9-813a-0ab2f17e305b%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.d47d98545bff) that quoted a “senior justice department official” as saying that Mueller’s report recommended no further indictments. “Like most Americans, I am glad to see that this investigation, which has taken nearly two years and cost tens of millions of dollars, has finally come to a close,” Scalise said in a statement. “The reports that there will be no new indictments confirm what we’ve known all along: there was never any collusion with Russia. The only collusion was between Democrats and many in the media who peddled this lie because they continue to refuse to accept the results of the 2016 election. 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.” Even if the Mueller report does not recommend further indictments, that does not mean President Trump and those in his orbit are in the clear. The former FBI head has already [referred several cases to career prosecutors](http://time.com/5556331/mueller-investigation-indictments-guilty-pleas/) at the Justice Department — and may have made other referrals that aren’t public yet. The [Democrat-controlled House also continues to pursue its own investigation](http://time.com/5557297/mueller-report-release-congress/) into the President’s alleged ties to Russia. Furthermore, it is long-standing policy in the Department of Justice that a sitting President cannot be indicted. Still, news that the report recommends no further indictments was cause célèbre for those close to the President. “675 days, millions spent, a team of people biased against the President, and NO COLLUSION FOUND,” tweeted Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, in a message retweeted by the the President’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. > [](https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1109258264980738048) North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows also tweeted that “The Mueller report delivery suggests no more indictments are coming from the Special Counsel. If that’s true, it would mean we just completed two years of investigating ‘Russian collusion’ without ONE collusion related indictment. Not even one. Why? Because there was no collusion.” > [](https://twitter.com/RepMarkMeadows/status/1109214617828499459) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5557491/trump-allies-mueller-no-new-indictments/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5557491/trump-allies-mueller-no-new-indictments/"},"headline":"No One Knows What’s in the Mueller Report. 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