We don’t know, of course, because his behavior has been the very opposite of transparent, but I strongly suspect that the record will ultimately show that there was no meaningful collusion between Trump and the Russians during the campaign. The Russians saw an opportunity to make our system look bad, and succeeded beyond their wildest dreams; Trump was basically the unwitting, lucky beneficiary of their efforts.
The real significance of this episode is that it shows, to no one’s surprise, that Trump is uniquely ill-equipped to deal with a political crisis. When transparency is required, he retreats to a bunker; when things are going badly, he doubles down; when he needs to stop digging, he starts on a new hole.
Imagine what is going to happen when he is confronted with something genuinely serious! It’s going to get ugly, folks, and not just for him–we are his hostages.