The fabled smoking gun showing that President Trump’s campaign team colluded with the Russian government might indeed exist. As The New York Times reported last night:

Before arranging a meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer he believed would offer him compromising information about Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Jr. was informed in an email that the material was part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s candidacy, according to three people with knowledge of the email.... Mr. Goldstone’s message, as described to The New York Times by the three people, indicates that the Russian government was the source of the potentially damaging information.

Trump Jr.’s lawyer doesn’t deny these reports. Instead, he tries to downplay their significance, saying, “This is much ado about nothing.” Other parties involved in the meeting, notably the colorful music promoter Rob Goldstone and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, either refused to talk to the Times or tried to minimize the importance of the email and meeting.

If the Times report is accurate, then the most startling fact is the sheer folly of the interested parties. They not only engaged in potentially criminal behavior, but also left an email trail that could be used to track their activities. The sobering fact is that the biggest political scandal since Watergate is busting wide open thanks to the overwhelming power of pure stupidity.