Here’s how the Russia inquiry would have played out, we believe, before the firing of James Comey. Mike Flynn would have been rung up on lobbying charges, probably related to Turkey, not Russia. The government might have found a tax bill to lay against Paul Manafort related to decade-old payments from a Russian oligarch. And surely Carter Page jaywalked or double-parked or used an expired MetroCard on his way to a meeting about some business deal that would have violated sanctions if it had any chance of coming to fruition.

Mr....