Trump's Russia policy was—from its 2013 inception during Trump Tower Moscow negotiations—a gift to Putin, not a policy position. A policy position requires *bilateral concessions*—Trump's policy was free money. And it became a crime once Trump knew Russia was aiding his campaign.
2/ This is what people miss about the "plain view" theory of Trump-Russia coordination—that Trump's Russia policy was bribery *from the start* because it was an unmitigated Russian windfall and Trump had a long, established history of benefiting personally from Russian largesse.
3/ Trump had *years* to articulate even *one* concession he'd demand from Putin in exchange for the comprehensive lifting of US sanctions—a Russian windfall to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in new oil exploration alone—and he never articulated even *one* concession.
4/ Meanwhile, Don Jr. was saying Trump Org relied on Russian investors; Eric was saying Trump Org relied on Russian investors; Trump was negotiating Trump Tower Moscow deals in 2013 and 2015; and he *refused to divest from Trump Org*, meaning all that Russian largesse was *his*.
5/ Trump's Russia policy was bought and paid for *in public*—and it was concurrent with Trump's knowledge that Russia was going to do all it could to assist him in the 2016 presidential election. Russia illegally contributed to his campaign and Trump illegally abetted its crimes.
6/ This is why I often say that Trump-Russia coordination is already public and prodigiously proven—and was illegal from the jump. The question in the Mueller investigation, for me, has been whether and when Mueller will build a case that moderate Republicans can/will understand.
