Washington is consumed by the impeachment inquiry that has followed the release of the whistle-blower complaint in late September alleging that Trump administration officials and associates sought to coerce Ukraine into politically motivated investigations. Meanwhile, in a parallel effort that appears designed to undermine the integrity of the Mueller report, Attorney General Bill Barr recently traveled to Italy (at least twice) and Britain to gather information as part of his review of the origins of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

But there is yet another, perhaps more unnerving effect of these efforts by Trump affiliates like Rudy Giuliani to generate dirt on the Biden family and to taint the findings of the Mueller investigation: It is providing immense tinder for the pyre of propaganda that the Russian intelligence services may ignite for the 2020 election.

Wittingly or unwittingly, the president and his allies are helping to propagate another disinformation campaign — one that will most likely aid Russia, yet again, in its efforts to intervene corruptly in the American electoral process.

This state of affairs was laid bare in the explosive congressional testimony last week of William Taylor, the acting ambassador to Ukraine, who described the operation of two diplomatic channels there — one normal and proper, Mr. Taylor said, the second “highly irregular.” The second channel, led by Rudy Giuliani and some State Department officials, involved holding arms shipments to Ukraine hostage to demands that the Ukrainian president “go to a microphone” and announce investigations into the Biden family and Ukraine’s role in the 2016 presidential election.