This is pretty entertaining stuff from the Gentlelady from Missouri. Follow the bouncing ball. Step one: Piling-on with your party's collective freakout over the Trump campaign's alleged "collusion" with Russia, you loudly and publicly declare that even in your many years on a relevant committee, you've never met with the Kremlin's ambassador. "Ever." Bask in the retweets:

I've been on the Armed Services Com for 10 years.No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador. Ever. Ambassadors call members of Foreign Rel Com. — Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) March 2, 2017

You sheepishly acknowledge that well, actually, you have met with him -- as evidenced by, um, your own Twitter feed:

Off to meeting w/Russian Ambassador. Upset about the arbitrary/cruel decision to end all US adoptions,even those in process. — Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) January 30, 2013

CNN has learned McCaskill spent an evening at a black-tie reception at the ambassador's Washington residence in November 2015. McCaskill was photographed at the event, honoring former Democratic Rep. James Symington, who hails from her state of Missouri and worked to promote US-Russia relations. In an interview, McCaskill acknowledged attending the dinner, but she said she only did so because of her long-standing relationship with Symington, whom she said "kind of got me started in politics." She claimed the 140-character limit on Twitter did not let her clarify that she never met "one-on-one" with the Russian ambassador, and added she "did not" speak with Kislyak at the reception.

You ponder how to spin the revelation that you also attended a fancy reception and dinner at (cough) the Russian Ambassador's private residence:

Sure, Claire. Whatever you say. But you seemed pretty definitive with the whole "never, ever" thing.

Step four: You thank God almighty that it's almost a holiday weekend. Well then:

Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill (Mo.) used a personal foundation to pay for a dinner she attended at Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak's Washington, D.C., residence. The senator had failed to disclose her role in the foundation until earlier this month. McCaskill's attendance at the dinner was accompanied by an $873 payment to the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation, where Kislyak serves on its board of directors as honorary chairman...The payment to Kislyak's foundation was not made directly by McCaskill—it was made through a foundation, the Shepard Family Foundation, that she set up with her husband Jon Shepard in 2013 but failed to disclose in filings to the Senate ethics committee until three weeks ago. The sudden disclosure of McCaskill's role in the foundation—which had to be inserted into disclosures covering 2014, 2015, and 2016 through amendments on June 6—came as part of an attempt to distance herself from investments in an opioid manufacturer.

Step five: You prepare to stand for re-election in a state Donald Trump won by 18 points last fall, praying that you'll again be able to hand-pick your opponent by manipulating Republican primary voters.

It's been a rough week for "collusion" enthusiasts, not that it matters too much anymore. As damning evidence and telltale leaks failed to materialize, the Left quickly moved on to the next accusation. By the way, can we prove that Claire McCaskill is doing Moscow's bidding? Nyet, but think of the seriousness of the allegation, and consider her multiple layers of deception on these issues. Very suspicious (#impeach). And for the record, yes, I think the Russia meddling investigation is important (and that Trump has been his own worst enemy on this whole front), but Democrats who've fed into groundless hysteria deserve ruthless ridicule. I'll leave you with this: