The Patriot Post® · It Must Be Time for Another 'Russian Collusion' Story

President Donald Trump has had a few pretty good weeks. His response to two major hurricanes was laudable, however badly that disappointed a Leftmedia ready to pounce a la George W. Bush and Hurricane Katrina. His new chief of staff, John Kelly, appears to be running a tight ship at the White House. Trump even worked across the aisle with a deal on the debt ceiling — at least the press was good, even if Republicans were jilted.

Thus, combined with last week’s release of Hillary Clinton’s pathetic blame-everybody-else book, the timing is perfect to turn attention back to … what else? Russia.

Think we’re paranoid about the timing? Back in July, Julie Pace, the liberal Washington bureau chief for the Associated Press, observed quizzically, “Every time [Trump and his administration] feel like they found their footing, every time they feel like they’ve had a positive message, something on the Russia investigation overtakes it.”

According to a New York Times scoop, Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, may be facing criminal charges as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. The Times says this relates to possible “violations of tax laws, money-laundering prohibitions and requirements to disclose foreign lobbying.” These may or may not have anything to do with Manafort’s relationship to Trump, and it may or may not have anything to do with the raid on his house in July.

Which brings us to yesterday’s second story. CNN reports that James Comey’s FBI was surveilling Manafort before and after the 2016 election, and may have recorded conversations with Trump last year. It isn’t clear if Manafort was being surveilled while he was serving as Trump’s campaign manager. Either way, it lends more than a little credence to Trump’s charge that Barack Obama “had my wires tapped.” After all, Manafort has lived in Trump Tower since 2006.

There are two things to keep in mind here. First, neither of these stories is the “bombshell” the Times or CNN hope, though it’s true surveilling Manafort would have required some reasonable suspicion countenanced by a FISA court. He may be innocent, or he may not be. Second, and far more important, is as Mark Alexander wrote in July: The most perilous domestic threat to American Liberty is the collusion between Democrats and their mainstream media partisans. What did the Times and CNN know, and when did they know it? How long have they been sitting on what amounts to pretty useless information, meant solely to put Russia back in the headlines and keep Trump on the ropes?

(Updated.)