His dramatic testimony struck more than one observer as part recitation , part theatrical performance . In today’s political discourse, good television counts almost as much as good substance, all but guaranteeing Comey’s eclipse of everything else in the Washington universe.

Confronted by the glare of Thursday’s dazzling Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing , we all focused on the bright shiny object that was and is former FBI Director James Comey.

Even while Comey performed before the Senate, Russia’s schemes continued to unfold, undermining U.S. national security in myriad ways and places around the world. It may be the case that Trump lied; it may even be the case that he criminally obstructed justice and should be impeached. And yet we cannot let those important political questions consume all our attention, lest Russia do more harm while we are distracted.

However, for all of the revelations in Thursday’s hearing, it failed to shine light on the most important set of questions relating to Russian activities and the extent to which Russia has degraded U.S. national security through its espionage, influence, and cyberwarfare campaigns over the past two years.

L’affaire Russe began during the 2016 election campaign with investigations into alleged ties between Trump campaign officials, Ukraine separatists, and potentially the Russian government. These investigations focused on former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and policy adviser Carter Page, as well as their commercial affiliates.

Since then, we have learned of a series of high-level meetings between close Trump associates and the Russian government. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reportedly met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on three separate occasions during the campaign and transition. Deposed Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn met and talked repeatedly with senior Russian officials and also worked for myriad foreign interests during the campaign, actions that have now put him in considerable legal jeopardy.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, next to Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 10, 2017. Russian Foreign Ministry Photo via AP

Trump aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner also met with senior Russian officials during this period, as well as prominent Russian bankers connected to Vladimir Putin and known for being agents of Russian influence abroad. Kushner reportedly went a step further, seeking to hide these communications at the time from U.S. intelligence agencies by asking to use Russian diplomatic facilities and secure communications channels.

Of course, on the day after firing Comey, Trump met personally with Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office, reportedly revealing highly classified intelligence to the Russians regarding ISIS and the situation in Syria.

Any one of these encounters would raise serious questions about the intent of the meeting, and its outcomes, whether a private deal or foreign policy quid pro quo. Together, they signal something much more significant: a deliberate change of U.S. policy toward Russia, with these meetings serving as public acts of consummation for the new relationship between the two countries.

Judging by Russia’s string of foreign policy triumphs since last November, Putin appears to have the upper hand in his new relationship with Trump and the U.S. Since the election, Trump feuded with his own security agencies, which he and his advisers alternately accused of acting as a “deep state” to oppose Trump’s agenda and orchestrating leaks to humiliate and undermine Trump personally. Trump’s ill-considered words—including his obstinate refusal to affirm America’s commitment to collective self-defense—and amateurish diplomacy have sprained the NATO alliance, with the possibly of a fracture growing by the day. White House discussions of Afghanistan, Syria, and other national security subjects have stalled as Trump has been consumed by other priorities, including responding to self-inflicted crises like the Comey firing. Trump’s nine-day foreign trip made for a few good television moments like his sword dance in Saudi Arabia—but appears to have left a trail of wreckage, including a massive dispute between the Gulf states and statements by European leaders and erstwhile allies that they could no longer rely on the U.S. and must instead “fight for our own future and our fate ourselves as Europeans.” And, in perhaps the most clear quid pro quos reported yet, Trump officials allegedly pushed in the earliest days of his administration to roll back sanctions on Russia—sanctions imposed over the Russian intervention in Ukraine and Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

No one of these triumphs resulted directly from Putin pushing a button and having Trump act. They reflect a more subtle success, borne of Russian influence upstream in the Washington ecosystem. Russian intelligence agencies successfully interfered with and influenced the U.S. election, according to a consensus position of the U.S. intelligence community. Trump's 2016 campaign hats. Bloomberg/Getty Images By subtly influencing the election outcome, cultivating relationships with top Trump officials, and creating distrust of core U.S. national security institutions like the CIA—including among the president himself—Russia set in motion a complex chain reaction that is now paying off for the Russian regime. Whether they actively colluded with the Trump campaign or not, the Russians got what they wanted: a president who was more friendly to their interests, and more pliable in their hands too.