Putin mocks Mueller probe: ‘A mountain gave birth to a mouse’

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed vindication Tuesday in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, saying “a mountain gave birth to a mouse,” according to The Associated Press.

Putin said the findings of the 22-month investigation prove that allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia were the result of Democrats’ failure to accept the results of the 2016 presidential election.

{mosads}”It was clear for us from the start that it would end like this,” Putin said at an Arctic forum in St. Petersburg, according to the AP. “A mountain gave birth to a mouse.”

Putin went on to call the collusion claims “sheer nonsense” and argued that continued emphasis on the investigation disrespected the will of voters.

“We have been saying from the start that this notorious commission led by Mr. Mueller won’t find anything, because no one knows better than us: Russia has not meddled in any U.S. election,” Putin said, according to the AP. “There was no collusion between Trump and Russia that Mr. Mueller was looking for.”

Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly denied that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.

“Unjustified accusations of interference in the domestic affairs of particular countries are made while simultaneously engaging in an open campaign to undermine and topple democratically elected governments,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the United Nations in September.

Putin repeated those denials Tuesday, saying the Russian government had no contact with Trump when he visited Moscow as a private citizen, according to the AP.

In a four-page summary of Mueller’s findings, Attorney General William Barr said the special counsel found no evidence of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia and did not draw a conclusion on obstruction of justice.