Thread by @SamSacks

A lot of folks want to redefine what Russiagate is now that it’s clear the most sensational aspects of it have always been bogus.

“Russiagate” is the following:
Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset for years due to the fact that Putin has kompromat on him. He was then “activated” to run for the WH, which he won thanks to a conspiracy involving the Kremlin. Putin now dictates US policy.

And this isn’t letting “the crazies”’define Russiagate, this is letting top cable news hosts, sitting Senators and Representatives, think tank presidents, and serious journalists define the story. That’s the narrative they’ve presented to us.

It’s clear now that this didn’t happen. There is no kompromat. Trump ran for the WH to boost his brand & get licensing deals in Moscow & other places. No one, from the campaign to the Kremlin, actually thought he’d win, and the plan fell apart when he did. “Russiagate” is dead.

To now say Russiagate is merely a story about international corruption & Trump’s shady business dealings is to ignore the vast majority of Russiagate coverage over the last few years: the dossier, the Rachel Maddow rants, Democrats constantly speculating what Putin “has” on Trump

Newspaper & magazine covers depicting the White House as St. Basil’s. All the dumb ads in Cyrillic. The conspiratorial mega threads that we’re endorsed by leading mainstream journalists. The bot frenzy. Ya’ll can’t just erase all of this since this is why people became skeptics!

Now, the most serious crimes Trump is facing have nothing to do with Russia. The bank fraud. The campaign finances crimes. Repeated violations of the Emoluments clause. Even the obstruction stuff related to Flynn has more to do with Turkey than Russia. None of this is Russiagate.

Russiagate skeptics on the left have never doubted that Trump is corrupt, that he’s surrounded himself with criminals, that he cares far more about enriching himself than governing the country. But they’re not on board with creating a Russian bogeyman to prove all that stuff!

Last point: I’ll await Mueller report to see what level of coordination there was between Trump camp and Wikileaks (or even Russians) re: the email dump. If true, it is a big deal, but not as big as people think and still falls well short of confirming original Russiagate thesis.