Thread by @juliettekayyem

THREAD: McConnell is right.
So I wanted to take my time and maybe provide ways we can analyze things w/o focusing on solely whether something is good or bad for Trump.1/

Because from that perspective it was a "better" day for Trump than it was a "worse" day. But Trump succeeds if we look at our democracy only through his win/lose lever. So, let's begin. First, McConnell is right. 2/

The Senate Majority leaders focus on Russia's ONGOING efforts to interfere as "dangerous and disturbing" is not the takeaway I would have anticipated from him. But it's hard to ignore mostly because it is a fact that Barr says directly. The Russians helped Trump, repeatedly. 3/

Second, now that collusion is off the table, we can actually have a focused conversation on the reality of what Russia did, the likelihood that they will continue to do it, and the concerning fact that our President won't admit it, won't take it up with Putin, won't fight back.4/

For 2 years, the WH answer to Trump's odd behaviors has been "no collusion" and now their answer appears to be true. But now: what are you going to do about it next time? Why are you behaving this way? The answer can't be "no collusion" because that's no longer the question. 5/

Third, the mystery of why Trump behaves how he does -- the Helsinki syndrome -- was not addressed by Mueller. And never was going to be. Maybe the answer is in another case involving finances or banking. Maybe the response is in the next election or in Congress. 6/

I know there will be continuing debates of what we see and release of the report. And there should be. But the collusion-or-bust standard (rather on whether the family is compromised) masked something equally damaging to our democracy. 7/

Our homeland and democracy were interfered with by an enemy. And if it wasn't collusion, and it wasn't per Barr memo and Mueller's text, then a fair question is: why does the President continue to deny (to quote McConnell) "Russia's ongoing efforts?" 8/

Who won? Lost? Who gives. Both Mueller and Barr -- through the legal, and not intelligence, process -- confirmed Russia interfered with our election and is still a present threat.
For all of her flaws, America is still worth fighting for. Collusion or not. 9/9