The latest news on the Trump Russia matter is that the House Investigation is largely poisoned and the Senate is trying its best to put a serious face on the as yet murky story. Efforts to fathom what is going on reached an almost amusing point yesterday when the New York Times published an article by James Risen. Risen's article claimed that the key to what is happening might be Cold War spy history. But a less far-fetched theory may be the simple matter of whether Michael Flynn lied about his Russian dealings and whether Donald Trump covered it up.
The Senate approach
According to AP, these are the latest elements of the US Senate intelligence Committee's effort to redeem what appears to be a faltering effort in the house. The focus will be on Russian disinformation efforts during the 2016 campaign and actions of upwards of 1000 internet trolls. The query will explore the effect of Russian efforts on the main swing states where the election was actually won.
What we already know
We already know that there were pro-Trump efforts underway in Russia. We already know that Donald Trump won by a total of 80,000 votes divided by the three swing states that swung the electoral college. And we are daily made aware of ongoing efforts by Trump and the people around him to discredit the work of the House committee which had the potential to call many witnesses who, under oath, might have disclosed evidence of a cover-up.
Senate Hearing to Focus on Russian Disinformation Tactics https://t.co/14hArcVTNF
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) March 30, 2017
Why the Senate may fail
The Senate should succeed at the point of establishing at least the illusion that it is bipartisan. The Nunes-Schiff battle in the house will probably not be repeated. The most conspicuous and likely need is for the Senate to find and question Michael Flynn.
Flynn is not conspicuous at all. There is every possibility that he has evidence he is willing to share for the price of his own freedom. He was last surmised to be within the orbit of FBI director James Comey. The Senate may help substantiate Russian enthusiasm for Donald Trump. But the winner of the contest to bring Trump down will be the one who can show he did the same thing Nixon did -- tried to cover up a criminal act.
