There are two stories out there. One is that Trump and Russia never did meet. The other is that Trump was in Russia and did horrible things. This all goes back to a typed intelligence memo that was originally opposition research paid for by supporters of Hillary Clinton. The closely-typed report included salacious allegations about the President's hatred of Barack Obama and his filthy reaction. This is the report that Buzzfeed was roundly criticized for putting before the world. The criticism served to bury the matter but smoke rose from the burial ground and it became clear that there might be a gun, even if six feet under.

The New York Times ties Trump to Russia

The smoking gun memo has been validated up to a point. The Times says Trump has several ties to Moscow. But there is more and no one knows where this will go. In the White House, or wherever Trump is when he travels, he is frightened enough to violate protocol, The President, via his current chief of staff, actually asked the FBI to school the New York Times on the truth. This is rich coming as it does from a man who makes light of lying.

FBI develops some spine and slaps down Trump's Russia demands

Consider also the fact that President Trump has been on a Tweet rampage aimed at what he calls "the failing New York Times." Trump followers now give the New York Times the nasty attention they continue to shower on Hillary Clinton.

But on the matter of what happened in Moscow, the Times knows it is sitting on something that, if it proves true, would dwarf even the Pentagon Papers as a big win for the "Gray Lady."

Trump and Russia come down to the unspeakable

The smoking gun report on Trump and Russia is referenced in the sources for this story.

One can surmise that every detail has been or is being vetted by the Times and that the paper will declare whether its most damaging elements are true or not.

Trump and Russia are not going away, any more than Hillary and email are. We used to think that nothing could sink Donald Trump and maybe nothing will. He can take hope from the fact that his big lies about Hillary are largely false.

Maybe the memo will prove false too. But should the Times find a scintilla of evidence of what went down in a Moscow hotel room, linking Trump to Russia big time, the impact won't be just huge. It will be seismic.