Fox News host Sean Hannity, a friend of President Donald Trump, reacted to the submission of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on March 22.
Mueller sent the report on possible collusion between Russians and the Trump campaign to Attorney General William Barr on Friday. The contents were not made public but Mueller said that he would issue no more indictments, meaning he found no collusion.
Hannity appeared to revel in the news, announcing at the opening of his show: “The left’s favorite conspiracy theory is now dead, it is buried.
“There was no collusion, no conspiracy, no obstruction, nothing,” he added. “The witch hunt is over and there will be no further charges, no further indictments.”
Hannity noted how long the probe lasted and included the investigation that the FBI launched while Trump was still a candidate, saying altogether it lasted “nearly three years.”
“President Trump, no more indictments, no collusion charges will be filed, no obstruction charges will be filed, and no conspiracy charges, nor will they be filed.”
Hannity highlighted a reaction by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), another ally of Trump.
Meadows took to Twitter to react to the news that no additional indictments would be filed, saying: “The Mueller report delivery suggests no more indictments are coming from the Special Counsel.”
The Mueller report delivery suggests no more indictments are coming from the Special Counsel. If that’s true, it would mean we just completed 2 years of investigating ‘Russian collusion’ without ONE collusion related indictment. Not even one.
Why? Because there was no collusion
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) March 22, 2019
“If true, it would mean we just completed 2 years of investigating ‘Russian collusion’ without ONE collusion-related indictment. Not even one. Why? Because there was no collusion,” he added.
“After two years, tens of millions of your tax dollars, the Mueller witch hunt only managed to prosecute oh, a few people, for process crimes,” Hannity said.
“Let’s see, [George] Papadopoulos, his big 12 days in jail, lying to prosecutors; military hero Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has not been sentenced, he nearly went bankrupt, had to sell his home, for mounting legal bills—with both McCabe and Comey, the FBI director, the deputy director, admitting and bragging, they set him up, something they’d never do in the Obama or Clinton administrations—and we have Roger Stone, he’s going bankrupt, facing trial for allegedly lying to Congress and harassing a witness; Michael Cohen, of course, we know his case, pleading guilty to lying to Congress, other crimes related to taxicab medallions and bank application fraud and taxes; and Paul Manafort, oh, he may spend the rest of his life in prison because of taxes and, again, lying on bank loan applications.”
“What do they all have in common? Nothing, zero to do with Trump, the campaign, Russia, or collusion,” Hannity concluded.
Hannity is the nation’s most popular cable news host, ratings-wise.
In contrast to his reaction, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, the most popular non-Fox News host in the nation, appeared to struggle to hold back tears while assuring viewers that the Mueller report “is the start of something apparently, not the end of something.”
Despite Mueller saying no collusion-related indictments would be coming, Maddow added: “For everything that we’ve been through as a country, for every kind of trial and challenge and intrigue and embarrassment and scandal that we have been through as a nation, we haven’t ever had to reckon with the possibility that somebody has ascended to the presidency of the United States to serve the interests of another country rather than our own.”
She said that the report should be released to the public, something President Trump said himself.
