Members of the all-Republican Arkansas congressional delegation welcomed news that the Justice Department has uncovered no evidence of collaboration between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
Five released written statements, and a couple of them portrayed the entire episode as a dark stain on American history.
"I'm glad the investigation is over and the American people can know the truth -- no collusion and no obstruction," U.S. Rep. Steve Womack of Rogers said. "This was nothing more than a political witch-hunt from day one, and Democrats should be held accountable for the hyperbolic rhetoric and fabricated scandals they forced on our nation."
U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford of Jonesboro said media reports during the investigation have "forever unfairly stained this President and the many who've been supportive of his policies and administration."
"We can never allow a chapter like this to ever be written in our country again," he added.
U.S. Rep. French Hill of Little Rock said he was pleased that the special counsel had "concluded that [neither] the president nor his campaign colluded with the Russian government."
All four House members from Arkansas had supported a resolution March 14 calling for special counsel Robert Mueller's report to be made public, "except to the extent the public disclosure of any portion thereof is expressly prohibited by law."
It's the right approach, Hill said Sunday.
"I support ... allowing the public to read as much of the Special Counsel's results as possible so that we can move forward as a country. We have challenges to face and solutions to craft -- together," he added.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs declined to comment on the substance of the findings Sunday evening. His spokesman, Rebekah Hoshiko, said Westerman continues to believe the report should be released.
MONDAY UPDATE
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman issued the following statement on Monday after this story was originally published:
“Since the Mueller report hasn’t been publicly released, I am cautious when addressing topics I don’t have all the information on, unlike Democrats and the mainstream media have done for the past two years. Attorney General Barr’s summary of the report is encouraging news - regardless of how you feel about President Trump, we as a nation should be grateful that a sitting president didn’t collude with Russia. I hope Barr releases the report soon so we have all the findings and the country can move forward.”
"Democrats have chased these imaginary scandals for months," she said. "It's high time we get this report in the open so we can move past all the manufactured outrage and get back to addressing the real issues facing our country."
Although the Mueller report states that it "does not exonerate" the president when it comes to obstruction of justice, according to Attorney General William Barr, some lawmakers portrayed the outcome as a complete vindication of the president.
Now that the investigation of Trump is complete, Crawford said, it's time to uncover those who improperly leaked information and otherwise took steps to illegally undermine the administration.
"I believe we should pursue and seek out all information that will lead us to completely know who initiated and authorized many of these unlawful actions and if necessary prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," he said.
The state's two U.S. senators also weighed in.
U.S. Sen. John Boozman of Rogers expressed confidence in Mueller's findings, saying the "extremely thorough investigation" had "found no proof of collusion between the president's campaign and the Russians."
"We have to restore the public's trust in our institutions. Releasing as much of the report to the public as possible would go a long way toward ensuring accountability in this process," he said.
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Dardanelle said Mueller's report "confirms what I've long stated based on my work on the Intelligence Committee: there's no evidence of collusion between the president's campaign and Russia."
The threats posed by Moscow are real, Cotton stressed.
"I hope the president's critics can now put aside their conspiracy theories and join the needed work of countering Russia's malign influence on America and international security," he said.
Democratic Party of Arkansas Chairman Michael John Gray said the investigation had succeeded in "rooting out wrongdoers."
"If it's ultimately not tied directly to the president, then that's better for America," he said. "But the point is, there was some wrongdoing. They were people closely associated with the president and they needed to be exposed. "
A Section on 03/25/2019