Has President Trump learned that the coverup is worse than the crime? At first glance, no. He reportedly has done just about everything possible to derail any investigation into whether his campaign colluded with the Russian government to subvert a U.S. election.

On the other hand, maybe he has learned something. Maybe he has learned that the way to handle a coverup is to do it all right out in the open. He certainly hasn’t been very secretive about it. He told us point-blank on television that he fired James Comey because of the Russia investigation. Then he made it more explicit still when he reportedly said, “I just fired the head of the FBI. … I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.” And what is the icing on this beautiful chocolate cake? He said this in the Oval Office, to the Russians!