TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly said Monday he did not view the indictments of a former Donald Trump campaign chairman and two others as a significant development in the investigation of possible ties between the campaign and the Kremlin.
“He does not need to waste a lot of taxpayer dollars to criminally indict people if it doesn’t deal with collusion, the Russians or this campaign," said Kelly, referring to special prosecutor Robert Mueller. "He is a special prosecutor for a special event, and right now, what I’ve seen has nothing to do with the collusion by the president."
The Republican representing Mississippi's First Congressional District spoke prior to a speech to the Tupelo Rotary Club about the indictments of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, business associate Rick Gates and former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos.
Manafort and Gates have pleaded not guilty. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty.
Kelly, a former district attorney, also shared how he plans to approach the upcoming proposal by House Republicans to change the nation's tax code.
“As long [as] the majority or 95 percent of my district is doing better off -- and I think that all of them will be, then we will be for it, and it will definitely be a shot in the arm of our economy,” said Kelly.
The House GOP is expected to release that tax reform plan this week.