Hey, doofus, it wasn't a "Russia hoax"

For all those deniers (and idiots) out there who continue to call Trump's malfeasance during the 2016 campaign the "Russia hoax" (including the current GOP Presidential frontrunner Trump himself), here are ten tidbits that are proven facts, and facts that suggest it would have been negligent if the US DIDN'T investigate Trump's connections to Russia.

1)      Donald J. Trump and 18 of his associates had at least 140 contacts with Russian nationals and WikiLeaks, or their intermediaries, during the 2016 campaign and presidential transition--when there were US intelligence concerns that Russia had worked to influence the 2016 election in Trump's favor. One of which was Trump himself denying he had any ties to Russia while his company was still attempting to build the Trump Tower Moscow.  Mueller Report Shows Depth of Connections Between Trump Campaign and Russians - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

2) Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort,  and Trump's son, Don, Jr., met with someone they thought was connected to Russian government for “dirt” on Trump’s political opponent to help Trump’s campaign—and then lied about the purpose of the meeting, at Trump’s direction. Mueller report: Donald Trump Jr.'s 2016 meeting on Russian dirt (palmbeachpost.com)

3)      Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort passed internal Trump campaign information to a Russian intelligence officer during the 2016 election (despite strong suspicions of Russia attempting to sway the election to Trump) according to a bipartisan Senate report. Final Senate Intelligence Report On 2016 Election Russian Interference Released : NPR, 

4)      Trump publicly asked Russia to “find Hillary’s emails.” Within 24 hours, Russia had hacked into DNC accounts. Flashback: Trump asks Russia for Clinton emails - Bing video (Fox News) ; Russians tried to hack Clinton server on day Trump urged email search | Trump-Russia investigation | The Guardian

5)      Trump advisors (primarily Roger Stone, but George Papadopoulos, too) seemed to have advance knowledge of Russia’s hacking effort and subsequent wikileaks releases—with Stone predicting release dates and some content. New Unredacted Mueller Report's Most Explosive Revelations (businessinsider.com)

 6)      Trump praised wikileaks, an entity the US government previously had declared an “enemy of the state,” and anticipated and  amplified the hacked emails. President Trump in 2016: 'I love WikiLeaks,' Trump now: 'I know nothing about WikiLeaks' | CNN Politics

 7)      Kushner had created a back-door communication channel with Russia—which is not uncommon or illegal/unethical to be done by incoming administrations, but the timing and optics were suspect. Explainer: Was Jared Kushner’s attempted ‘back-channel’ with Russia treasonous — or typical? | PBS NewsHour

 8)      Trump believed Putin over US (and world) intel that had determined that the Russian government had worked to influence the 2016 Presidential election. Trump says he believes Putin over U.S. intel (yahoo.com)

9)      Numerous policies—including Syria withdrawal, non-renewal of INF treaty, disparagement of NATO—seemed to be pro-Russia, despite bi-partisan support for stands that weren’t Trump’s. 37 times Trump was soft on Russia | CNN Politics

10) Two subsequent Trump-DOJ investigations (Horowitz and Durham), concluded that, despite some egregious procedural errors, there was neither political bias nor malfeasance in beginning the Trump/Russia investigation. 

So, why in the world would anyone think there was something to investigate about Trump and Russia? Um, because there was, no matter what lies and misbeliefs Trump and his idiotic
minions spew.