CNN’s Jake Tapper asked House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) what he was missing on Trump/Russia collusion evidence, and the case that Rep. Schiff made was devastating.
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Rep. Schiff said:
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Well, you know, I think you have to look at the pattern and chronology. In late April, the Russians the Trump campaign saying we have stolen Hillary Clinton e-mails. Only weeks later the Russians are making another approach to the campaign, this time at the highest level offering dirt on Hillary Clinton. The campaign already on notice that they have emails. You then have a message going back from the campaign to the Russians. Basically, we would love to have your help. We would love to play ball, but we are really disappointed with what you gave us, and only days later Julian Assange announces that he’s received stolen emails, which we now know came from the Russians.
And the Russians themselves start publishing the e-mails through the cut-outs. You have Trump Jr. in private secret communication with Wikileaks. So we have all these facts in chronology. You have to believe these are all isolated incidents not connected to each other. Just doesn’t make rational sense. Now, can you prove beyond a reasonable doubt will be Mueller’s question to answer that the Russians communicated to the campaign that the way they were going to deliver the help they offered, and that the campaign accepted was not by handing the emails directly over to the campaign, but by publishing them That will be up to Mueller as we fill in the missing pieces. But we do know this, the Russians help. The campaign accepted help. The Russians gave help, and the President made full use of the help. That’s pretty damming whether it is proof beyond a reasonable doubt conspiracy or not.
Rep. Schiff was correct. That is a pretty damning circumstantial case base on the facts, but the case is going to get even stronger with direct evidence from the witnesses that Special Counsel Mueller is flipping. The crime isn’t the collusion. The collusion was the motive behind a wide variety of crimes, which include financial crimes, lying to the FBI, and obstruction of justice.
What Schiff laid out was devastating, and the bad news for Trump is that there is even more to come.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
