Stop Letting the Russians Get Away With It Mr. Trump
After the election  they continued to spread confusion and chaos  staging rallies both for and against Mr. Trump  in one case on the same day and in the same city.
 Mr. Trumpâs  defenders  desperate to exculpate  him   seized on a single word â âunwittingâ â that the indictment used to describe certain âmembers  volunteers and supporters of the Trump campaign involved in local community outreachâ who had interacted with the Russians.
In other words  as the White House subtly put it in a statement on Friday  âNO COLLUSION.â The president repeated the claim himself in a tweet  grudgingly acknowledging Russiaâs âanti-US campaign â but emphasizing that it had started âlong before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted.  The Trump campaign  did nothing wrong â no collusion!â
Itâs true that  as Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in an announcement  these particular indictments do not allege that any American knew about the influence campaign  nor that  the campaign  had changed the outcome of the election. But thatâs quite different from saying that there was no collusion or impact on the election. As Mr. Rosenstein also said  the special counselâs investigation is continuing  and there are many strands the public still knows little or nothing about.
Remember  Mr. Mueller has already secured two guilty pleas  one from  Mr. Trumpâs  former national security adviser and another from a former campaign adviser  for lying to federal authorities about  their  connections to Russian government officials. He has also charged  Mr. Trumpâs  former campaign chairman  Paul Manafort  and his top aide  Rick Gates  with crimes including money laundering. Mr. Gates appears to be nearing a plea deal himself.
Then there were Russian cyberattacks on the elections systems of at least 39 states. And the hacking of emails sent among members of the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign â which  Mr. Trump  openly encouraged.
This is all going to happen again. Intelligence and law enforcement authorities have made that clear. The question is whether  Mr. Trump  will at last accept the fact of Russian interference and take aggressive measures to protect American democracy. For starters   he  could impose the sanctions on Russia that Congress overwhelmingly passed  and that  he  signed into law  last summer. Of course  this would require  him  to overcome  his  mysterious resistance to acting against Russia and to focus on protecting  his  own country.
After the election  they continued to spread confusion and chaos  staging rallies both for and against Mr. Trump  in one case on the same day and in the same city.
 Mr. Trumpâs  defenders  desperate to exculpate  him   seized on a single word â âunwittingâ â that the indictment used to describe certain âmembers  volunteers and supporters of the Trump campaign involved in local community outreachâ who had interacted with the Russians.
In other words  as the White House subtly put it in a statement on Friday  âNO COLLUSION.â The president repeated the claim himself in a tweet  grudgingly acknowledging Russiaâs âanti-US campaign â but emphasizing that it had started âlong before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted.  The Trump campaign  did nothing wrong â no collusion!â
Itâs true that  as Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in an announcement  these particular indictments do not allege that any American knew about the influence campaign  nor that  the campaign  had changed the outcome of the election. But thatâs quite different from saying that there was no collusion or impact on the election. As Mr. Rosenstein also said  the special counselâs investigation is continuing  and there are many strands the public still knows little or nothing about.
Remember  Mr. Mueller has already secured two guilty pleas  one from  Mr. Trumpâs  former national security adviser and another from a former campaign adviser  for lying to federal authorities about  their  connections to Russian government officials. He has also charged  Mr. Trumpâs  former campaign chairman  Paul Manafort  and his top aide  Rick Gates  with crimes including money laundering. Mr. Gates appears to be nearing a plea deal himself.
Then there were Russian cyberattacks on the elections systems of at least 39 states. And the hacking of emails sent among members of the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign â which   [TGT] openly encouraged.
This is all going to happen again. Intelligence and law enforcement authorities have made that clear. The question is whether   [TGT] will at last accept the fact of Russian interference and take aggressive measures to protect American democracy. For starters    [TGT]   could impose the sanctions on Russia that Congress overwhelmingly passed  and that   [TGT]   signed into law  last summer. Of course  this would require   [TGT]   to overcome   [TGT]   mysterious resistance to acting against Russia and to focus on protecting   [TGT]   own country.