That wasn’t the only problem for Trump. Here are a bunch more:

AD

AD

1. McCain and others were careful to separate the issue of national security from the notion that Russia could have swayed election results. Clapper made this clear as well, saying that there is simply no way of knowing whether votes were changed. Trump has been using — or reacting to — the insinuation that he didn’t win without Russian help to dismiss the entire cyberattack issue, making him sound like Vladimir Putin’s defense counsel. Senators, by separating that issue from the Russian threat, will force the president-elect and his nominees to confront Russian interference with Western elections and other anti-Western activities.

2. Trump’s ongoing defense of Russia and citation of Julian Assange look even more ridiculous. Both Clapper and Rogers said they didn’t have faith in Assange’s credibility. (That’s also bad news for the Fox News evening hosts who have feted him and cited him as a credible person.) The testimony that the witnesses jointly submitted was explicit: “Russia is a full-scope cyber actor that poses a major threat to the U.S. government, military, diplomatic, commercial and critical infrastructure and key resource networks.” Trump will have a hard time disputing this if he wants to maintain the support of Republicans and the public at large.

3. Trump’s nominees will have no choice but to address the issue, the testimony and the facts raised in the hearing. (Does Rex W. Tillerson agree with the testimony or not? If not, what is his basis?) If the nominees refuse to answer or if they embrace Trump’s pro-Putin stance, they stand a solid chance of being blocked.

AD

AD

4. Democrats continue to demand that an independent select committee be created. That’s a popular position with voters, and it puts pressure on both the House and Senate to show that they can run credible, effective and timely investigations.