Far more to know about ties to Russia

What we heard in Monday’s Congressional hearings around the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia were deeply, profoundly disturbing.

First, and foremost, we heard from FBI Director James Comey that his agency is investigating the Trump team for its connections to Russia. This was hardly surprising, but the implications are staggering.

We heard, in some detail, how the Russians switched from simply wanting Hillary Clinton to lose to wanting Donald Trump to win. Their efforts on his behalf – even if Trump did nothing to encourage them (“Russia, if you’re listening...”) – must be explored.

We heard there is absolutely no evidence that former President Obama requested, authorized or conducted any form of surveillance on Trump Tower – per President Trump’s bizarre tweets.

We heard, in the estimate of National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers, that the claim British intelligence services helped Obama conduct such surveillance was “utterly ridiculous” and did nothing but anger one of our closest allies.

Oh, and we heard outrage – outrage! – that someone has been talking to reporters about the Trump team’s contacts with Russians.

Unfortunately, some Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee still are pretending the leaks are the most important aspect of this story. Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, tried to make it sound as if the leaks were a crime more grave than possible interference with our presidential election. He’s wrong.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, a former prosecutor in South Carolina who pushed investigations into the Benghazi tragedy that found nothing, tried to intimidate the press by questioning Comey about the prospect of criminal charges under the Logan Act. Comey said such charges have never been brought in his lifetime.

If the press hadn’t uncovered Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ previously undisclosed meetings with the Russian ambassador, he would be giving Comey orders – perhaps including an order to end this investigation.

If the press hadn’t looked into the affairs of campaign manager Paul Manafort we might not know he was paid thousands of dollars by Kremlin stooges in Ukraine to conduct misinformation campaigns. New information was published Tuesday of even more previously undisclosed payments.

We might not know that Mike Flynn lied about his contacts with Russia – including payments of $68,000, some from Russia’s official propaganda arm in the U.S., RT – even as he was urging closer ties to Russia in combating ISIS. Those were just two connections to Russia; there are many more.

We still don’t know what those connections amount to, but we know that at least Comey, Rogers and others are sufficiently concerned to continue these probes. Continue they must.

There was some other testimony Monday. Dropping twitter bombs as fast as he could type, President Trump tried to change the topic by labeling what he heard “fake news.”

But here’s what we didn’t hear Monday: the sound of the other shoe dropping. That sound is coming, whether through additional hearings or more reporting from credible journalists. Trump’s insults and Gowdy’s threats won’t deter them. Meanwhile, Comey said his agency will pursue the facts wherever they lead. If a special prosecutor is needed, Congress should select one.

If Nunes, Gowdy and Trump’s defenders try to derail any avenue of investigation, some of those other shoes will likely be dropping on them.

This story was originally published March 21, 2017 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Far more to know about ties to Russia."