Maybe Mueller is never able to prove Trump’s personal involvement to a decisive degree, but how much does anybody need to know before skepticism feels like flat earthism?  I think we’ve passed that point already.

A lesser known Steele memo outlines the belief in Russian circles that Trump was going to name Romney Secretary of State, but the Kremlin blocked it.  So instead we got Rex Tillerson, the holder of the Russian Order of Friendship, who has been so smart, so even handed since his surprise appointment.  He’s been much tougher on Russia in his rhetoric than his boss.  But considering sanctions voted on by Congress have not been implemented, that’s not exactly a high bar.

However, the NYT reports that the State Dept. was granted $120M to fight Russian interference and they’ve spent exactly zilch.

As a result, not one of the 23 analysts working in the department’s Global Engagement Center — which has been tasked with countering Moscow’s disinformation campaign — speaks Russian, and a department hiring freeze has hindered efforts to recruit the computer experts needed to track the Russian efforts.

Now of course, with any Trump govt. department it could be just plain incompetence. Even the former Exxon/Mobile CEO might just be fucking up and not working for the benefit of Russia.  At least he didn’t order a $31,000 dining room set.