Maverick's World

But assume for a moment that what Barr is saying (i.e. "no collusion proved") - is true.

Then we must face the following facts.

1) Collusion can't really be proved - As it is usually just a tacit agreement. Most people who commit collusion are not dumb enough to leave a piece of paper lying around that says "Oh you scratch my back and I will scratch yours". 

2) Collusion is not really criminal - Saying "Ok President Putin, I will stand for election, and appoint your guys to my campaign staff" isn't really criminal. (Actually accepting the appointment and then doing things secretly to aid Putin's agenda - however - is actually criminal!)

3)  The elements of "Collusion" are criminal - You don't need to prove "Collusion" exists to identify criminal conduct. The elements of collusion in this matter involve treason. If the elements of treason (such as hidden financial transactions, coordination between public statements, private promises of valuable exchanges, etc...) are verified, then whether or not Trump or his guys knowingly colluded with Putin is irrelevant. Criminal charges can be framed around the elements of treason.

I guess what I am saying is that Trump trotted out the term "Collusion" as a deflection from the greater issue of *Treason*. The Democrats engaged the issue because the appearance of collusion was so obvious that it was impossible to look the other way. Trump was practically handing them a leg to kick his rear with. 

Why Trump did this is mysterious to me. Perhaps he thought he would be able to flip the narrative on the Democrats (as he did with the "Lock Her Up!" chants) - and in doing so - avoid directed scrutiny of the treason issue. 

Whatever his intention (and I don't think Trump thinks nearly as hard about these things as he should) - the Democratic Party successfully used Trump's own "No Collusion" canard against him. If you doubt their success - just ask all the GOPers who lost their seats in the House despite all the voter fraud and gerrymandering they did. 

Now we can expect that Democrats will pivot to the core issue of treason and the fig leaf offered to Trump by Barr's letter will be blown away. 

As this is blown away - one can expect Trump to be quite agitated, but the biggest losers here will be the GOP - as they will have to defend his desire to bury the Mueller report and suffer the electoral consequences. 

This lays ground for the next post. 

"GOP! JEB, Your Savior!"