The great collusion hunt

Amid partisan battles, Americans want conclusion

The House Intelligence Committee’s Republican majority has concluded its investigation into Russian tampering with the 2016 presidential election and alleged “collusion” between the Trump presidential campaign and the Russians.

Its findings surprised nobody. The majority report said: “We have found no evidence of collusion, coordination, or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians.”

This was the conclusion of partisans and will be viewed as such.

Moreover, committee member Trey Gowdy, who has seen the CIA’s documentation of Russian activities in 2016, has been at pains to say the Russian tampering was real, substantial and aimed at helping Donald Trump and hurting Hillary Clinton. Mr. Gowdy is himself a staunch and sometimes fierce Republican partisan.

But even considering the source, most Americans would probably nod in agreement: After 14 months, there seems to be no evidence of collusion —

— between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

It’s clear that the Russians were up to no good and wanted to influence the outcome of the election. Other nations have done so in the past. This is odious, but not new.

And it is clear that some of the Trump operatives were naive while others were avaricious and slithering. This, also, is not new. Campaigns, generally, are eager to hear dirt on the other candidate, and sometimes to generate it. The Clinton campaign would be Exhibit A.

But if the proposition is that the current president of the United States actively cooperated with a foreign power in its effort to help him get elected, very few Americans believe that. Only the hardest of hardcore Trump-haters believe that.

So, when will we know enough? When can we let the collusion accusation go?

Well, when we hear from the Senate Intelligence Committee and special counsel Robert Mueller. The Senate committee, unlike the House committee, still operates on the timetested bipartisan basis of all committees that deal with national security. But its chairman, Sen. Richard Burr, has said, on the record, several times that he has, so far, seen no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Yes, he has said, the Russians would have liked such collusion.

And, again, so far, this seems to be the direction from Mr. Mueller: Russian dirty tricks, yes; Trump collusion, another matter.

Soon, one hopes, we shall have the final word from Mr. Mueller. But meanwhile, you can ask a member of Congress, read a poll or do your own listening. Much of the public, and certainly most of the unaligned public, has moved on from the Russia story. They would like to see some action from Washington on infrastructure — action that actually helps America’s poorest cities and devastated small towns. They would like to see some action to save the Dreamers. They would like to see a little more civility and goodwill in our politics. For all that to happen, the great collusion hunt must, at point, end.