The Air Has Seeped out of the Russia-Collusion Balloon

By Michael Barone I did not and of course I looked for it looked for it hard. That was Bob Woodward promoting his book on the Trump White House Fear replying to talk radio host and columnist Hugh Hewitts question Did you Bob Woodward hear anything in your research in your interviews that sounded like espionage or collusion? Youve seen no collusion? Hewitt followed up. I have not Woodward replied. Can we take this as definitive evidence that theres nothing to the theory widely bruited these past two years by top intelligence and FBI officials and by numerous Democrats that President Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russians? Not necessarily. As Woodward added theres always the possibility special prosecutor Robert Mueller or others know something we dont. But we also know none of Muellers indictments and guilty pleas point toward confirmation. And the prosecutors questions to Trump quoted to Woodward go to Trumps motives for clearly constitutional acts like firing former FBI Director James Comey. So as I wrote in my Wall Street Journal review of Fear Those anticipating Mr. Trumps downfall for collusion with Russia will be disappointed by Fear. Trump repeated Woodwards statement made after Comey informed the president-elect of the lurid allegations in the dossier prepared by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele that the dossier is a garbage document that never should have been ... part of an intelligence briefing. But thats just about all that partisans like House Intelligence Committee ranking Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff refer to when they say that theres plenty of evidence of Russian collusion already on the table. Intelligence leaders like former CIA Director John Brennan and law enforcement officials at Comeys FBI may have been prompted to investigate Trumps Russian ties by the candidates bizarre statements praising Russian President Vladimir Putin calling for accommodation with Russia and calling on Russia to release emails it may have obtained from Hillary Clintons illegal server. But now two years later its apparent that Trumps foreign policy is less friendly to Russia than his predecessors. And its also clear thanks to my Washington Examiner colleague Byron Yorks reporting that that Russia platform plank that was supposedly watered down at the Republican National Convention was actually toughened up. The mainstream media as is so often the case simply got that story wrong in an apparent attempt to make Trump look bad. Recent examples: the Washington Post story on passport denials to Latinos that withheld and distorted key facts according to the Huffington Post and The New York Times hit piece on U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley that blamed her for overspending on curtains ordered in October 2016. Animus gone wild is the only explanation for such blunders in attacking a target-rich environment like the Trump administration. Before 2016 I presumed that no serious person disagreed with the proposition that as a general matter it is undesirable to have law enforcement and intelligence agencies investigating political campaigns particularly those of the party in opposition to the president. The potential for stifling free political debate and partisan competition is obvious. I was open to the argument that in some circumstances in some small number of cases there might be exceptions to this general rule going even beyond enforcement of campaign finance laws and regulations: the Manchurian Candidate exception. This appears to be what our intelligence and law enforcement leaders thought they were invoking when they launched their probes into and surveillance of the Trump campaign. Now it appears that beyond a generalized suspicion theyve been acting on nothing more than the Steele dossier. A document unverified as Steele himself has admitted in a British court; a document made up entirely of hearsay from unknown and unavailable witnesses; a document bought and paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign. So its unsurprising to read that the intelligence and law enforcement agencies are resisting or slow walking a promised presidential order to declassify their documents and deliberations. And that congressional Democratic leaders are insisting that the agencies submit such declassified material to them before making it public. They dont want people to know that intelligence and law enforcement agencies have been violating the general rule that they should not interfere in electoral politics. The entire inquiry Bob Woodward quotes Trumps ex-lawyer John Dowd appears to be the product of a conspiracy by the DNC Fusion GPS -- which did the Steele dossier -- and senior FBI intelligence officials to undermine the Trump presidency. Does Woodward disagree?