Trump colluded with Russia and obstructed justice. Right wing won't care—but independents just might

Yeah, I said it. The Mueller report makes clear that Individual 1 and his campaign did collude with Russia, and he did obstruct justice. I’m not talking about legalese: I’m talking about facts and truth.

Let’s start with “collusion.” It is not a legal term. As the Mueller report itself stated, “collusion is not a specific offense or theory of liability found in the United States Code, nor is it a term of art in federal criminal law.” The report rightly noted that, in this context, it was simply a word used by members of the Trump administration—a word they defined in a certain way to help their boss. What it really means, in the most simple terms, is clear in this definition from Merriam-Webster’s: “secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose // acting in collusion with the enemy.”

The Mueller report documents, in detailed, devastating fashion, numerous instances of the Trump campaign working in “cooperation” with Russian government officials, and doing so for the “deceitful purpose” of undermining American democracy. As the New York Times put it: “The report laid bare that Mr. Trump was elected with the help of a foreign power, and cataloged numerous meetings between Mr. Trump’s advisers and Russians seeking to influence the campaign and the presidential transition team — encounters set up in pursuit of business deals, policy initiatives and political dirt about Hillary Clinton.”

Zack Beauchamp at Vox has synthesized Mueller’s discussion of collusion quite well here. I agree with Beauchamp’s overall analysis:

If “collusion” refers to a willingness to cooperate with Russian interference in the 2016 US election and actively taking steps to abet it, it seems to me that the Mueller report does in fact establish that it took place.

Presidential candidates are not supposed to act this way. It should make any honest, self-respecting Trump supporter sick to know that their candidate colluded with a foreign adversary—especially one who thought a Trump victory would serve their own national interest. As a reminder of how presidential candidates are supposed to act, in 2000 Al Gore received what appeared to be stolen materials (George W. Bush’s debate preparation notes, etc.). What did he do? He turned it right over to the FBI. Compare that to Trump actively encouraging Russia to steal Hillary Clinton’s private emails. Trump put Russia first.

from Daily Kos http://bit.ly/2Xx6wjQ