The @jonathanchait article in the current @NYMag on Trump and the Russians is great...a very thought-provoking timeline. Reading it, I was however, struck that perhaps we are looking at the whole story in the wrong way.
It is far too tempting to look at it as being entirely about Trump. And the idea that the president is knowingly collaborating with an enemy to undermine US democracy and interests is undoubtedly, incredibly compelling...and vitally important if true.
But if we look at it from the perspective that the story is about the United States and our national security and not about Trump, it changes the narrative a bit. Because there is no disputing that the Russian engaged in a massive, long-term effort to interfere with US democracy.
There is massive evidence to support that they sought to assist the Trump campaign on many fronts and to undermine his opponents. There is much evidence that they used leverage on his team to do this, information warfare, cash infusions, offers of help attacking rivals, etc.
They saw him as a desirable person to have as president of the US to advance their interests and they did everything in their power to ensure he got the office. And they succeeded. And at every turn since, he has rewarded them with just the policies and positions they wanted.
Further, his party has lined up behind him in these positions that are antithetical to any ever held by any US president or US major political party (including active attacks on NATO and our allies and active defenses of Russia, its malign actions, its leadership, etc.).
And Trump has sought to quash the investigations into his ties to Russia--which is further action on their behalf regardless of his motivations. This is a massive story--a giant scandal--a major, successful assault on the US and our system by a major adversary.
Our focus on whether Trump was a witting party to this and when is a distraction from this bigger issue. Because the bigger story should lead to a major reassessment of how we defend ourselves against such attacks in the future and what to do about this attack...
...to mitigate its consequences. That Trump and the GOP are not addressing this is, of course, shocking in itself...and a dereliction of their duty as US public officials. But of course, they are doing that at the very least because they recognize they are vulnerable.
At the least they were dupes who later abetted the Russians in multiple ways. That's the least of their crimes. But of course, none of the preceding minimizes the point made well by Chait: There could be more to this. Trump could be more actively involved. It could be even worse.
That-the knowing participation of a president and those closest to him in a direct attack on the US by a foreign adversary-would be the biggest political scandal in American history. But, even if that cannot ever be proven, what we do know rivals it atop the list of such stories.
It is worth keeping that perspective...because the US nat'l security story underlying this is the one the US gov't should be addressing now & it is the one we will have to deal with after Trump is gone. Whether he is in jail at the time or just living, out of office, in disgrace.
