Rucker talks to numerous people associated with Trump and finds that he "remains haunted by all things Russia […] and continues to nurse a profound and unabated sense of persecution." That's the Stalin part of him—that and his "declaration of his right to meddle in criminal cases whenever he chooses" and his regular complaints "that Comey and McCabe have avoided jail time for what he is convinced is wrongdoing" and his paranoia. "Most of these items have arisen because the president doesn’t think things are fair," one adviser told Rucker. "His reaction to Joe Biden's son is mostly not a reaction of trying to harm a political opponent, but it's a reaction of not believing that the treatment of the Bidens is in any way similar to how he's been treated. His reaction to McCabe, Comey, various other enemies of the president is a reaction to what he believes is an unfair result happening to his allies."

The dangers are urgent and extreme, starting with the 2020 election. Former U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg makes it clear: "As Bob Mueller said—and the entire intelligence community confirmed—Russia is still coming at us." Trump is not only "offering a false narrative to the American people about that threat, but there is no leadership from him on this incredibly important issue. We are still being attacked. It is as if the Russians invaded Alaska and the president either said they are not actually there or that they are there but it does not really matter because we have 49 other marvelous states."

The 2020 election is the least of our worries, though, since Barr is happily turning the Justice Department into Trump's legal team. We're not at the prosecutions of political enemies yet, but we're teetering closer and closer with some of the investigations Barr has initiated. It's made even worse by a Republican Senate that isn't just refusing to do its job of holding Trump in check, but also all but inviting Putin in by refusing to do anything to protect our elections.