ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Democratic members of Congress recently turned to Facebook, Twitter, Google to find evidence — anything, please anything! — that could tie President Donald Trump to Russia and allow them to make the legal case that he, or his campaign teammates, colluded to steal the election from Hillary Clinton, it’s been revealed.

Title this one: When Big Government Meets Big Brother.

In a hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday, members “probed Facebook for any evidence it might have of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia,” The Hill reported.

And what were they told?

Facebook found nothing. Nada, zip, zilch.

Specifically, Facebook said that it didn’t find anything suggesting collusion and doubted that its data would shed light on any cooperation between the two … between the Trump campaign and Russia,” The Hill wrote.

Another ding for the Democrats; another failed attempt to impeach Trump.

But that’s becoming all-too-common news in this whole Russia collusion thing — that there’s no evidence, nothing to see here. Folks, go home.

The bigger story, the newer story, the more shocking story, with this particular hearing is this: “The [Facebook] statement came in response to a question by Sen. Dianne Feinstein citing unnamed researchers who said that Facebook has the ability to parse its data and determine whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russia,” the Hill reported.

The question gives rise to many more. Here’s one: Just who are these unnamed researchers who are counseling Feinstein to use Facebook to dig deep into Team Trump social media posts — apparently, absent any type of court order?

Here’s another: Does government think it’s OK to do the same to any U.S. citizen, if suspicions — or political partisanship — warrant?

Facebook’s exact statement to Feinstein’s question was this: “Facebook does not believe it is in a position to substantiate or disprove allegations of possible collusion.”

Well and good.

But the fact that the question was asked at all ought to be an eye-opener for all Americans because it shows this: Big Brother is watching. And so is Big Government.

Cheryl Chumley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter, @ckchumley.

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