That the fraudulent, media-hyped Russiagate fiasco was a colossal waste of civic energy is now beyond doubt to all but the most bitterly partisan. But scant attention has been paid to its enablement of the tragic Russian invasion of Ukraine. The premise of “Russian collusion” was that Vladimir Putin was assisting Donald Trump in defeating Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Even though collusion was never proven, the conclusion is still being bruited about that Putin wished Trump to win. If, to the contrary, Putin was in fact actively seeking to defeat Trump, this attempt may provide insight into the whys and wherefores of his Ukraine invasion. To be sure, the trivial and ineffective Russian bot farm postings were laughable and likely done for private profit, not geopolitical effect. But whatever the motivation, they were admittedly inconsequential. But what did move the needle in our domestic politics was the Russiagate scandal itself, i
