Ok, put down your fists. Kick up your feet. Smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em. With the long, winding journey of the Russia investigation coming to an end, let’s consider what we might learn when Special Counsel Robert Mueller issues his report.
The key question has been simple: Did Donald Trump’s campaign scheme with the Russians to help him win the 2016 election? Trump and his loyalists have dismissed this as the feverish imaginings of bitter Democrats who were so convinced Hillary Clinton would win, they can attribute her loss only to cheating. But after nearly two years of investigating, Mueller might actually know.
U.S. intelligence agencies have long believed Democratic emails were hacked by the Russians, passed to Wikileaks, and published with the goal of hurting the Clinton campaign.
Mueller could tell us if any members of Team Trump were dancing the barynya in the middle of it all. Mueller might be able to more deeply explain what was going on in all those meetings between Trump allies and the Russians; whether that confab at Trump Tower really was a bust as Don Jr. claimed; and the full story on Trump’s team angling for a business deal in Moscow well into the campaign. Remember, some former members of Team Trump have already admitted lying about their contact with Russians.
Perhaps Mueller will reveal the names of other people allegedly involved in the alleged plot…allegedly. And most importantly, if collusion was afoot, Mueller may present facts that show what Donald Trump knew, and when he knew it – despite the President’s denials.
Then again – and this is important – the Mueller report might not tell us much at all. For all his sleuthing for collusion, he may have come up empty. Or what he did find might not rise to a level of grand malfeasance.
Or political interests, or Justice Department rules could keep the bulk of his discoveries essentially under wraps. And to be sure, that may be the worst possible outcome. Because after all this, voters deserve to know what Donald Trump did – or did not do – in his quest to win the highest office in the land.
