Phil Terrana Writes: No Illusions About Collusion

The fish was huge

The fish was this big

Mueller’s report stated that, “the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systemic fashion.”

It also stated that, “the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency,” something Putin has admitted publicly and Trump has agreed with.

It also stated, “Russia could assist Trump’s campaign through the anonymous release of information damaging to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton,” something Trump publicly requested.

The report also talked extensively about the secret Trump Tower meeting between Trump’s senior campaign manager, Trump family members and a Russian lawyer promising to produce “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. It also reported on numerous other meeting between Trump operatives and Russians. The report cited initial statements by Trump and his family denying the meeting and its purpose as lies.

Attorney General Barr read, so he says, Mueller’s report including these quotes and concluded there was no collusion.
Trump didn’t have to read the report. If Barr said, no collusion, that was good enough for him. However, for those Americans who, like himself, had not read the report, Trump issued an official White House Twitter announcement stating that there was no collusion.

He then called Putin, the former head of the KGB, to inform him they had both been cleared—by the Attorney General. Bottom line: no conclusion, witch hunt, big hoax. They had both hinted at this outcome, but until Barr arrived at his conclusion of Mueller’s conclusion, they were both under a cloud of suspicion.

Both men are accustomed to operating under clouds of suspicion, even storm clouds of suspicion, but it’s always nice to have an umbrella when the rain does fall.
Trump and Putin congratulated each other for surviving the Democratic witch hunt, commiserating, no doubt, that the business of winning elections is not for the weak-hearted.

So where does this leave everyone?

Putin is ecstatic. He got the candidate he wanted and the American political system is a mess. True, 25 Russian operatives and three Russian companies were indicted for criminal activity, but as they say in Russia, “So what?”

Trump is feeling good, too. After saying, “no collusion” ten thousand times, it was nice to finally be vindicated by his hand-picked Attorney General, who before even reading the report had concluded that a president can’t be indicted, and possibly proven guilty of a crime because he’s the president. If you can’t be proven guilty, obviously you can’t be guilty.

But, where does this leave the American people?

I guess we will have to wait and see.

Wait for what? Look for what?

We will have to wait and see if in the months leading up to the 2020 election, Trump announces a summit with the Russian dictator, Putin, because as president he can do things in plain sight that he could never do as a candidate.

Wait and see if during that summit, they have a private conversation behind closed doors as they so like to do.

Wait and see if Trump opts to tell us nothing about what they talked about, other than to say it was very friendly and there was definitely no collusion, despite the obvious secrecy, before demanding we believe him.

Wait and see if, like with the Trump Tower meeting, this also turns out to be a lie.

Wait and see if when that happens, Republicans in Congress finally say, “Wait a minute. We don’t like what we’re seeing.”