If true, this would be one of the most devious political dirty tricks of all time. But in Watergate, the government officials were the culprits; in Russiagate, to hear Durham tell it, the government officials were just saps. Oh, sure, they were negligent, all-too-credulous. The bureaucrats even may have been just a tad politically biased against Trump, predisposed to believe he was the bad guy and the Clintonistas — like-minded Party of Government types — were just trying to protect America. The government officials were naifs, and Clinton rolled them, in Durham’s version.

I find this hard to swallow, having studied Russiagate and written a book about it. I imagine many Americans who want answers will feel the same way.

Trump supporters have great expectations about special counsel Durham’s probe. They are going to be deeply disappointed. There is no grand Watergate conspiracy, unless top government officials are willfully abusing their power. In Durham’s account, they are guileless victims, hypnotized by Clinton’s machinations. And note that Joffe and top Clinton campaign officials are not charged with defrauding the government. Only Sussmann is indicted, merely for misleading the FBI about the sources of his information; there is no charge that the information itself was fraudulent.