Opposing view: Findings expose the collusion delusion
The first page of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report about purported Trump collusion with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign stated that the original source about hacking was the Democratic National Committee. That’s the detail needed to show that this drawn-out investigation had partisan motivations from the beginning.
The main Russian intervention into the electoral process boiled down to placing ads with “divisive social and political messages” on Facebook, which had limited reach. As Facebook explained to Congress, 25% of the ads were never seen by anyone, 56% of the total views were after the 2016 election occurred, less than $3 was spent on 50% of the ads, and perhaps 10 million people saw one of the posts.
As far as collusion and subsequent allegations of obstruction, there never was more to this would-be scandal than political innuendo. The Mueller report refers to “inferences that can be drawn about (the president’s) intent.” Inferences do not constitute a solid legal standard, and such wishy-washy language exposes the reality that no concrete evidence of collusion ever existed.
Now that it has been proven by the Mueller report that there was no collusion with the Russians by President Donald Trump or anyone on his campaign, the hysteria has turned to mixed interpretations about whether there maybe was possibly some obstruction of the investigation by the White House. This is nothing more than flailing by anti-Trump forces who are in denial that their conspiracy story turned out to be false. After all, since there was no collusion, there was nothing to hide through obstruction.
Irresponsible charges of treason, coupled with former FBI Russia probe investigator Peter Strzok’s text promise that “we’ll stop it” about Trump’s election, expose the context of this entire probe and should lead to a new investigation into the investigators and the bogus sources they used to get FISA warrants and other interventions into the political process.
The Mueller report put a stake through the heart of this imaginary beast of Russia collusion. Trump didn’t cheat to win the presidency. Hillary Clinton lost the Electoral College vote fair and square, in a process set forth in the Constitution. NeverTrumpers need to get over it and focus their attention on real crises such as the $22 trillion national debt, a $1.5 trillion studentloan bubble threatening to burst, and a citizenry split over what to do about record illegal immigration across the Mexican border.
Brett M. Decker, an assistant professor of business at Defiance College, is co-author of “The Conservative Case for Trump“and a former editor of The Wall Street Journal.