It took Donald Trump less than a day after attorney general William Barr released a letter summarizing Robert Mueller’s report to turn the tables on his former tormenters. “This was an illegal takedown that failed, and hopefully, somebody is going to be looking at the other side,” he told reporters on Sunday, referring to Mueller’s conclusion that the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia during the 2016 election. The call quickly echoed through Trumpworld, with Rep. Mark Meadows declaring that “The public deserves to see the interviews, documents, and intelligence that ‘justified’ this investigation in the first place;” Rudy Giuliani demanding “a full and complete investigation, with at least as much enthusiasm as this one, to figure out where did this charge emanate, who started it, and who paid for it;” and Trump’s own son, MAGA princelet Don Jr., tweeting that “those responsible should be held accountable for this stain on American Democracy.” Sean Hannity, Trump’s most prominent Fox News cheerleader, virtually exploded, promising a fearsome reckoning for the president’s foes. “Starting Monday we will hold every deep state official who abused power accountable,” he promised. “We will hold every fake news media liar member accountable. We will hold every liar in Congress accountable.”

Never mind that Barr’s letter, a report on a report that nobody else has seen, raised more questions than it answered. For the president’s circle, a sense of vindication was all-encompassing—and the only acceptable response was retribution. “When it comes to the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] FISA warrant, the Clinton campaign, the counterintelligence investigation, it’s pretty much been swept under the rug . . . Those days are over,” Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters during a press conference Monday, opining that a variety of Barack Obama–era “scandals” merited their own probes. “What I want to do is see if he'll appoint a special counsel,” Graham added of Trump. “I’d like to find somebody like a Mr. Mueller.”

Perceived Obama-Clinton scandals, first surfaced as part of the right’s counter-theory of collusion, reemerged. Rep. Devin Nunes of the House Intelligence Committee announced he is working on a “criminal referral,” hinting at an anti-Trump conspiracy between career officials at the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice, Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and the Obama White House. “Attorney General Barr can begin restoring the credibility of the Justice Department by finally initiating a thorough investigation of the Clinton emails and related pay-to-play scandals,” tweeted Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton. The conspiracy-mongering went all the way to the top of the G.O.P., with Republican Party chairwoman Ronna “Romney” McDaniel tweeting her own investigations wish list.

Democrats calling for continued investigations into Trump-Russia ties were targeted, too. “Don’t be ‘relieved’ yet @donnabrazile,” tweeted former campaign aide Carter Page in response to the ex-D.N.C. chairwoman’s call for the entire Mueller report to be released. “An investigation into collusion between Russians who attacked us, individual Americans, your former organization's well-paid foreign agents and another political campaign may begin someday soon.”

Whether all this venting leads to concrete action is an open question. Several White House officials and allies told The Washington Post that the president plans to go scorched-earth on Democrats, former officials who blabbed to reporters, and members of the media who obsessed over his alleged Russia ties. Whether this serves him is another matter entirely. Attorney General Barr, a George H. W. Bush Republican with his own legacy to worry about, is unlikely to appoint a special prosecutor for Hillary Clinton. But there’s no question that the (partial) exoneration of Donald Trump will have consequences. As presidential historian Douglas Brinkley of Rice University pointed out to the Post, Barr’s letter gives Trump the moral high ground. “Trump actually kind of has inoculation now against other charges against him because he was able to prove his innocence here,” Brinkley said. “It allows Donald Trump to build his narrative about how the news media and the Democrats created this whole Russia collusion hoax, in Trump’s mind.”