With Russia investigation, plenty to see here Fireworks keep popping up, and smoke is wafting over the Trump White House: Our view

The Editorial Board | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Bannon:Firing Comey was 'biggest mistake in modern political history' Former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon says President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey was the "biggest mistake in modern political history." Nathan Rousseau Smith (@FantasticMrNate) reports.

President Trump and his acolytes keep telling Americans to pay no heed to allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in last year's election.

Former chief strategist Steve Bannon told 60 Minutes the investigation is a "waste of time" and a "farce." Trump's tweets have variously described the Russia investigation as fake news, fabricated or a "total scam."

It's all reminiscent of the old Naked Gun comedy, where police detective Frank Drebin stands in front of an exploding house full of fireworks and tells a gaggle of observers: "Nothing to see here, please disperse."

ROGER STONE: Russian collusion? It’s a delusion

Actually, the longer special prosecutor Robert Mueller, Congress and the news media look at this scandal, the more Roman candles light up the sky. Even as Russia news has been eclipsed in recent weeks by hurricanes and North Korean missile tests, explosive new evidence continues to emerge:

At the same time Trump was running for the Republican presidential nomination, his business organization was secretly pursuing a multimillion dollar real estate deal in Russia, an adversarial nation. “Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,” Russian-born business associate Felix Sater gushed in an email to a Trump lawyer over the Trump Tower Moscow project he was promoting. “I will get all of (Putin's) team to buy in on this.” The project never got off the ground, but not for a lack of trying by Team Trump.

Countless meetings took place between Russian proxies and Trump campaign officials, who conveniently forgot or failed to mention the meetings until presented with proof they took place. Among the most curious was the get-together on June 9, 2016, among Donald Trump Jr., then-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, son-in-law Jared Kushner and a Russian lawyer to hear about potential dirt on Hillary Clinton. "I love it," Donald Jr. enthused in an email anticipating the meeting. He later said nothing came of it, but it sure smells like attempted collusion.

The saga of former national security adviser Michael Flynn grows ever more tawdry, with reports that Flynn served as a consultant on Middle East nuclear power plants involving Russian companies. Flynn remains a central figure in the Russia investigation. His misrepresentations about repeated contacts with the Russian ambassador before becoming NSC adviser led to his resignation. Trump asked FBI Director James Comey to back off on investigating Flynn and then fired Comey, a move that led to the appointment of Mueller as special prosecutor and the humiliation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who, according to a report in The New York Times, was called an "idiot" by Trump for giving up oversight of the Russian probe.

Mueller's potential targets of opportunity — as he convenes a grand jury, issues subpoenas and conducts raids — are multiplying by the week. There's the broader Russian election-interference campaign. Then there's Flynn and now his son, Michael G. Flynn, as well as Manafort, Donald Jr., Trump's family finances and more.

This fireworks show continues to get bigger, and smoke from it is wafting over the Trump White House.