With Russia probe over, Moscow savors 'I told you so' moment

MOSCOW - Russia savored an “I told you so” moment Monday after special counsel Robert Mueller found no collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Moscow. Government officials also dismissed the extensive evidence uncovered by Mueller of Russian cyber-meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

“It’s hard to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if it isn’t there,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters, insisting that Russia has never interfered in elections in the U.S. or any other countries.

While Mueller found no evidence Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Moscow to sway the election in his favor, he uncovered multi-pronged Russian meddling and indicted 25 Russians on charges of hacking Democratic email accounts and spreading disinformation on social media.

The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected those charges as “ridiculous” and “politically motivated” and denounced Mueller’s investigation as a waste of taxpayer money stemming from the Democrats’ effort to discredit Trump.

“Colossal efforts and significant taxpayers’ funds have been spent to refute a clear fake,” it said.

Russian authorities over the past months have described the Mueller probe in a language strikingly similar to that of Trump, denouncing it as politically driven witch hunt.

“The results of Mueller’s investigation are a disgrace for the U.S. and its political elites,” Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the information committee at the Federation Council, tweeted Monday. “All of the accusations were proved to be trumped up.”

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/26/world/crime-legal-world/russia-savors-told-robert-mueller-report-outcome-expects-tensions-u-s-stay/#.XJnZRy17GX0