From Collusion to Conspiracy:

Missing the Forest for the Trees in the Mueller Investigation

For a variety of reasons collusion with Russia has dominated the overall narrative of the Mueller investigation so far. To begin with, it was the first clearly stated accusation leveled at Trump and his campaign dating back to investigations by the FBI and US intelligence community during the summer of 2016. Through Trump’s own actions he continually drew attention to his relationships with Vladimir Putin, WikiLeaks, and other dubious Russian actors. His campaign employed multiple individuals who have now been indicted or pled guilty to illegal contacts with the Russians before, during, and after Trump’s election as president.

The issue was serious enough to warrant recusal by then Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and the subsequent appointment of special prosecutor Robert Mueller to investigate “anything having to do with Russian interference in the election.” Then in the summer of last year a June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting with the Russians was revealed and for many it was the beginning of directly linking Trump to the Russian efforts to get him elected. And so, for the last year and a half America has been trying to connect the dots based upon the indictments, plea agreements, and other breadcrumbs offered by the Mueller team. When the report comes out however collusion with the Russians will be only…