NBC News is reporting that some on the Mueller team say his findings paint a picture of a campaign whose members were manipulated by a sophisticated Russian intelligence operation.
This is exactly what Professor Timothy Snyder has been saying all along.
In this video, taped on May 8, 2018, prof. Snyder explains why the word “collusion” is inadequate to describe what happened in 2016.
The word “collusion” draws us away from what happened. Collusions involves two equals. There were not two equals.
Trump was a tool and a tactic; the Russians had a strategy and plan. Snyder also credits Trump with (cleverly) framing the question in terms of collusion.
Snyder predicted this would ultimately allow Trump to triumphantly declare himself innocent. A tool doesn’t “collude.”
The video is short. In about 15 minutes, he explains why Trump was such a perfect tool for the Russians. Everything is also in Snyder’s (at times dense and difficult) book, the Road to Unfreedom, which is on my list.
Suppose what emerged was that a sophisticated intelligence operation manipulated the Trump campaign. Suppose the much smarter Russians played them like fiddles, played them for fools, pulled their strings as if they were mere puppets.
With rare exceptions, crimes require a guilty mind, known also as Mens Rea. Mens Rea is complicated. Different crimes require different levels of understanding.
Without knowing more, I very tentatively suggest that a stupid person who is manipulated into a wrongdoing may not be chargeable, because without some awareness of what is happening, there may not be criminal intent.
However, here’s an understatement: “The Trump campaign was so naive and stupid they were no match for the much more sophisticated Russian operation, which played them like fiddles,” is unlikely to inspire confidence in the United States President.
It’s also possible that a finding supported by evidence that “they were so naive they were no match for the Russians” might even penetrate Trump’s cult of leadership, which is based partly on the belief that the leader’s instincts are superior to the logic used by “elites.”
A week ago, Snyder tweeted this:
I also recall the third presidential debate in Oct. 2016 when Hillary Clinton told the country that Trump was Putin’s puppet.
A follower on Twitter asked this:
Something can look really bad—and be really bad—without meeting the elements of a crime. Not everything bad, wrong, or immoral is criminal.
“We were too stupid” may work in a criminal trial. But if true, it should be (to use the popular word) “damaging” to the president.
Another said this:
I think the reason for burying the report is that they know darned well that “we were manipulated” will not work politically, and may even be worse than a crime.
