The Trump-Russia collusion story is complex—there are lots of dates, locations and people to follow.
CNN host Michael Smerconish went through the whole thing in the top of his show on Saturday.
The FBI began investigating Russia-connected Trump aids after they accurately predicted what Russia would be doing to interfere in the election. When that happened, the FBI dispatched an informant to look into this matter.
"What should the FBI have done?" he asks. "Run it down, of course."
Trump is making up a story about what happened with Russia, and why he was the real victim, in order to convince his base that he is legitimate, Smerconish said.
"If SpyGate is effectively sold, then half the country will be of the mind that the Mueller report is the product of a flawed investigation, even though that is unsupported by the facts," he said. "This isn't about evidence, it's about inoculation."
The way to know that the FBI was not intending to undermine Trump is the fact that they did not disclose his potential collusion with Russia until after the election, he said.
"If the aim were to undermine Donald Trump's election then why did all of this remain a secret until after the election?" he asked.
Watch below.
