Will the government officials and members of Congress who perpetuated the Russian collusion narrative, hyping every non-story as evidence of treason, face consequences for their involvement?
The short answer is “no.”
The long answer is also “no,” even though there should be.
These people, who spent years telling the American people that the president of the United States colluded with a foreign government to steal the 2016 election from Hillary Clinton, will not face any consequences. Instead, they have been, and will continue to be, richly rewarded for their roles.
James Comey
The ex-FBI director was one of the principle players in the Russia conspiracy, having been provided the discredited “Trump dossier” paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign and compiled by an ex-British spy with help from the Russians. Comey was the one who briefed President Donald Trump on the uncorroborated, salacious dossier, giving media outlets the “hook” they needed to report on the document, which they had already been shown.
Trump fired Comey, so he then leaked FBI records to the media to make sure a special counsel investigation would ensue against Trump. He may have been fired, but he has managed to maintain a high-profile ever since.
He published a book in 2018 and naturally made the media rounds to make his claims about Trump and Russia with no pushback from alleged journalists. He was also given the opportunity to teach a course about ethical leadership at his alma mater, the College of William & Mary.
Comey may, however, be brought before Congress for more questioning, as hinted to by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
John Brennan
The former CIA director also spent the past two years claiming to have special insight into the investigation against Trump. Just three weeks ago he predicted there would be more indictments from Mueller’s investigation. When there weren’t, Brennan went to MSNBC to defend his actions during the scandal.
“I don’t know if I received bad information, but I think I suspected there was more than there actually was,” he said.
Brennan was rewarded for his constant attacks on Trump with a contributor position at NBC and MSNBC as a senior national security and intelligence analyst. Even though he spent years pushing Russian conspiracy theories, there’s no indication that he won’t be retained by the network.
James Clapper
The former Director of National Intelligence was apparently the one who decided to set Trump up by suggesting he be briefed on the uncorroborated dossier, according to memos from Comey. He also appears to have been the one who leaked the briefing to CNN, who reported the story as a bombshell.
Clapper was rewarded with a CNN contributorship.
Andrew McCabe
McCabe became acting FBI director when Comey was fired and led the agency when the Russia investigation began because it might not have been started if Trump’s chosen successor was in charge. The investigation, we now know, was opened in part as retaliation against Trump for firing Comey.
McCabe was fired after an Inspector General report found he had repeatedly lied under oath about leaking to the media.
As soon as he was fired, a GoFundMe account was set up to pay his legal bills, which raised over half a million dollars from just over 13,000 donors. McCabe, like Comey, was also rewarded with a book deal, which brought with it breathless coverage and interviews with all the networks.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Schiff may be one of the worst offenders over the past few years, having gone on dozens of news programs to proclaim he has seen the “ample” and “more than circumstantial” evidence that Trump colluded with Russia. Further, Schiff has vowed to continue investigating Trump even after the Mueller investigation concluded.
Schiff has been rewarded with a hero status among Democrats, who now feel he may be their best hope to take down Trump. He is also still routinely interviewed by the media.
Other Players
We can’t forget some of the others involved in the media scandal. Fired FBI agent Peter Strzok, who famously texted his mistress about an “insurance policy” if Trump won the election, also raised half-a-million dollars on GoFundMe. His mistress, Lisa Page, resigned from the FBI and seems to be the only person in this scandal not receiving public support. Bruce Ohr, who acted as an intermediary between the people paid by Clinton to create the dossier, Fusion GPS, and the FBI, is still with the Department of Justice.