Show collusion between Trump, or people associated with his campaign, and the Russians, or shut the heck up.

We, Republicans generally, and Trump, specifically, have allowed the Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) to conflate two issues. One: Russians attempted to, or were successful in, influencing the election. Two: Said influence involved active collusion among Trump, his surrogates, and Vladimir Putin.

The intelligence community has presented all parties (Democrats and Republicans alike) with intelligence that Russia worked to influence the 2016 election. What that intelligence included, specifically, is anybody's guess, as much of it has been kept within the investigatory bodies. No one is surprised that Russia has geopolitical interests in influencing the direction of its most prominent adversary, the United States.

Where the narrative goes off the rails, and has traveled much (much) farther than should have been allowed, is that Donald Trump or his surrogates were actively working with Putin, or Russia, to elevate Trump to the presidency as a form of quid pro quo. Set aside for a moment that, in an infamous "hot mic" moment, Barack Obama told Russian president Dmitri Medvedev that "after my election, I'll have more flexibility," and also set aside that, as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton signed off on a uranium deal with Russia, as money was being donated to the Clinton Foundation.

As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation.

The media were seemingly incurious about our "involvement with Russia" during these incidences, but now they are bending over backward to infer that Donald Trump worked with Russia to gain him the American presidency. Nothing – let me repeat: nothing – has been presented to show collusion between Donald Trump and the Russians.

You want to investigate Russia's influence in American politics? Knock yourself out. If you find methods they're using to affect the outcome of elections, by all means, close those doors.

But, and here's the kicker, if you haven't found evidence, even after "incidentally collecting intelligence" from Trump and his transition team that he, or his surrogates, colluded with Russia to gain him the presidency, close down that portion of the investigation. Our president deserves the opportunity to govern without a sham assertion being made about his complicity in Vladimir Putin's geopolitical activities.

Donald Trump should demand evidence implicating his complicity. He and the duplicitous GOP have allowed this sham to go on for far too long.

Show collusion, or STHU!