The Justice Department has released special counsel Robert Mueller’s report after an investigation that took nearly two years to complete.

In a press conference on Thursday, Attorney General William Barr said, "The Special Counsel’s report states that his 'investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.'”

Many of President Trump’s critics had alleged for years that Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with the Russian government, most notably two Obama administration officials: former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

In March 2018, Brennan said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that the Russians possibly "have something" damaging on Trump as justification for why the president was conducting himself a certain way with respect to dealing with Russia.

In June 2017, Clapper said the Watergate scandal "pales" in comparison to the investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign.

House Democrats such as Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., made the same allegations in an interview with CNN, saying in December 2017, "We do know this: The Russians offered help, the campaign accepted help. The Russians gave help, and the president made full use of that help. And that is pretty damning whether it is proof beyond a reasonable doubt of conspiracy or not."

There’s no denying that Russian actors attempted to work with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election. Mueller’s report and the attorney general acknowledge that. What Brennan, Clapper, and Schiff all have in common is that they went a step further by connecting dots that weren’t there.

During the fallout from the 2016 election, Democrats were quick to point the finger at Russia for the reason why their nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, lost in historic fashion. While trying to rationalize what we all witnessed, people like Brennan, Clapper, and Schiff capitalized on their moment, using their status to spread misinformation about collusion with a foreign power, a topic that people would believe them on. However, even for the special counsel, there wasn’t enough evidence to support it.

Instead of coming clean and admitting they didn’t have all the facts, Democrats are now moving the goal posts to obstruction of justice.

Following the release of the redacted Mueller report, Schiff said, "Whether the obstruction of justice was criminal or not or whether these contacts was sufficiently illicit or not to rise to the level of a criminal conspiracy, they are unquestionably dishonest, unethical, immoral, and unpatriotic and should be condemned by every American."

Now Democrats will fight tooth and nail to try to prove that obstruction did occur. One exhibit: Trump allegedly instructing former White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller in June 2017, which McGahn refused to do and intended to resign over it.

Say what you will about Trump’s attempts to obstruct justice, one key lesson here is that people like Brennan, Clapper, and Schiff misled the public and elevated themselves in the process. This sowed discord and distrust in our institutions, which was exactly the aim of the Russians meddling in the election.