If people want to believe something, there is very little that will dissuade them from that position. This seems to be the case with the Trump/Russia conspiracy theorists. They will point to a large collection of media reports, unverified allegations, federal investigations, and circumstantial evidence. They will overlook the fact that the media reports consistently inform readers that nothing illegal was found, that the unverified allegations are factually challenged and came from a heavily biased source, that federal investigators found no evidence of collusion, and that the circumstantial evidence was largely normal behavior of those investigated. They even believe that Trump’s tax returns would show evidence that he is beholden to Russia as if federal investigators were unable to look at them.

Listen closely to informed Democrat politicians and you’ll hear echoes of the argument with one important caveat, no accusations of collusion or even specific wrongdoing. Instead it is bland calls to, ‘see what’s there’ concerning Trump’s ties to Russia. There is nothing wrong with congressional oversight and a full investigation should take place, especially with regards to the investigation of Trump’s campaign itself. That said, it is extremely unlikely to unveil evidence of illegal acts by Trump’s camp. A congressional investigation uncovering anything nefarious about Trump would mean the previous Democrat administration chose not to reveal or pursue these leads. When considering the cascade of leaks surrounding this investigation, this scenario seems very implausible. On the other hand, the administration’s investigation no doubt found information that couldn’t be fully corroborated or rebutted and this is most likely the end goal for the Democrats. After all there was enough evidence to launch investigations and even attempts to get FISA warrants to surveil members of Trump’s campaign. These were most certainly based on a somewhat defensible suspicion and the information backing up this suspicion is likely politically damaging for Trump, although not legally so. The Obama administration used the full scope of its powers to investigate Trump and was unable to prove anything, so the next move is to smear by insinuation. The Trump/Russia conspiracies are not going away any time soon, or ever for that matter, and they will continue to be fueled by selective leaks. However, as this position becomes more clearly baseless, expect the hysteria to subside. Rather than allegations of collusion, the attack will shift to far more nebulous and broad concerns about the potential for corruption due to business dealings. A legitimate concern no doubt, but one very far removed from the initial accusation.