Opinion | John Neffinger: The Mueller report will inevitably reveal how legal Trump's lack of ethics was. - NBCNewsTHINK
tried to set up new back channels with Russia, hidden from U.S. intelligence. Media exposure and Flynn’s indictment quickly made it too politically dangerous for the administration to push through more pro-Putin policies, but the initial efforts were clear and extraordinary.
The first giant question we need the Mueller report to answer, then, is simply whether the reporting we have seen so far is accurate. If it is, then Trump did not just happen to support pro-Putin policies and passively accept Russia’s help; Trump did his level best to encourage, hide and eventually reward the Russians’ illegal election interference. You can call that “collusion” or argue that it’s not, but it is hard to argue that it’s okay.
Consider the enormous implications of this. If that tacit quid pro quo is illegal, then the president must be removed from office. But if encouraging foreign election interference is legal as long as you don't directly participate in it, that’s worse: It means that presidential campaigns can legally encourage foreign countries — even hostile ones — to help them win the White House. That cannot become the new normal in our political campaigns.
Another question that Mueller’s report might help answer is, if team Trump and team Putin were in contact over 100 times while both were running huge operations to elect Trump, what they were talking about. There will be a lot to discuss on Thursday, even with the redactions. But no matter how much the president crows that he's been vindicated, remember how much we didn't need Mueller to reveal, and how frighteningly little Republicans seem to care.John Neffinger is a former communications director at the Democratic National Committee, and author of the book"
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