Despite his best efforts to keep the Russia collusion narrative alive, even "collusion conspiracy theorist" Adam Schiff has been forced to acknowledge that President Trump's behavior during the campaign "wasn't necessarily criminal" - a stunning acknowledgement from a man who once publicly fantasized about the day Trump would wind up behind bars.

And while it's certainly possible that Mueller might have another indictment or two up his sleeve, by all accounts, his investigation is finally winding down, and AG William Barr reportedly expects to have a final report in-hand - if not by the end of the month - than at least in the very near future.

So it's hardly surprising that, with collusion on its way out, and the market soaring back to its all-time highs from last year, President Trump's political opponents needed to find something else to distract from the economic recovery (which could become the longest in US history if it holds out for a few more quarters). And they found it in former senior Trump campaign staffer Alva Johnson.

Alva Johnson (right)

In a lawsuit filed on Monday, Johnson accused Trump of trying to forcibly kiss her on the lips without her consent after a campaign rally in Tampa on Aug. 24, 2016. Johnson's language uncannily resembled Trump's infamous comments from the "Access Hollywood" tape.

“I immediately felt violated because I wasn’t expecting it or wanting it,” she said. “I can still see his lips coming straight for my face.”

Johnson's boyfriend, mother and stepfather all vouched to the Washington Post that she told them about the incident the day that it happened.

Johnson said she told her boyfriend, mother and stepfather about the incident later that day, an account all three confirmed to The Post. Two months later, Johnson consulted a Florida attorney about the unwanted kiss; he gave The Post text messages showing that he considered her "credible" but did not take her case for business reasons. The attorney gave Johnson the name of a therapist, whose notes, which The Post reviewed, reference an unspecified event during the campaign that had left her distraught.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders released a statement slamming Johnson's claim as “absurd on its face" and contended that "highly credible eye witness accounts" support the notion that it never happened.

Two Trump supporters that Johnson identified as witnesses - a campaign official and Pam Bondi, then the Florida attorney general - denied seeing the alleged kiss in interviews with The Post.

Johnson is seeking unspecified damages for the emotional pain and anguish she has suffered since "the kiss" including trouble sleeping and what sounds like, given her description, a serious case of PTSD (or maybe TDS).

“You want to move on with your life. I don’t sleep. I wake up at 4 in the morning looking at the news. I feel guilty. The only thing I did was show up for work one day.”

And while Johnson said she initially supported Trump, she has come to regret that support and her work on the campaign. She has also complained that she wasn't paid on par with other campaign workers performing similar work.

Of course, Johnson isn't the first woman to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct, and she probably won't be the last. But if we've learned anything from the campaign and Trump's stunning electoral victory over Hillary Clinton, it's that his supporters either don't believe the women who have spoken out against him, or they don't care.

In either case, it's difficult to imagine that this lawsuit was filed with the intention of winning in court, given that Johnson's only support for her claims are testimonials from three people who weren't at the rally. But by making her claims so publicly, she has also painted Trump into a corner, making a settlement - which some might see as an admission of guilt - unlikely as well.

But there might be a silver lining in all of this for Trump. Johnson, who is African-American, also presents a problem for the mainstream media narrative that has tried to paint Trump as a racist, bigoted "white nationalist". If anything, the fact that she worked on the campaign would appear to undercut that.

Read the full lawsuit below:

e4114bea-db1f-4c05-9fe4-dba1e97df7ec by Zerohedge on Scribd