Proving that there's a sucker born every minute may be the guiding principle of former President Donald Trump's political career. He has succeeded brilliantly in persuading many Americans that he is worth billions, that his actual fortune was earned and not merely inherited and that he cares about them. None of that is true.

But he has also convinced a remarkable number of people who should know better that he was the blameless victim of what he derides as the "Russia Russia Russia hoax" — a sinister conspiracy perpetrated by his enemies in the Democratic Party, aided by shadowy figures in our law enforcement and intelligence agencies, that had to be investigated and punished.

None that was true either. And we can be certain because after months of costly probes and prosecutions, a jury decisively rejected Trump's conspiracy claims this week — for the second time.

It was a humiliating verdict, with ramifications both domestic and global.

Three years ago, William Barr, then the United States attorney general, appointed John Durham, the U.S. Attorney in Connecticut, as a Justice Department special counsel to investigate Trump's "hoax" claims against the FBI. The mere announcement of Durham's appointment immediately lent them an undeserved patina of plausibility.

Since then, Barr and Durham have buffed that thin patina with unprofessional remarks suggesting that something was very wrong in 2016 when FBI counterintelligence officials opened a file on Trump's disturbing Russia connections, and that Durham's investigation would prove it.

Unfortunately for him, both of the major cases Durham brought against individuals who blew the whistle on Trump's disturbing relationship with the Kremlin ended badly: The first acquittal came five months ago, when a jury rejected charges that an attorney named Michael Sussmann had lied about his client when reporting his concerns about Trump to the bureau.

The second came on Oct. 18, when another jury freed Igor Danchenko, charged with lying to the FBI about the sources behind the legendary "dossier" about Trump and Russia created by former MI5 agent Christopher Steele. (Durham did win a guilty plea from an FBI lawyer for misrepresenting minor details in an email seeking a surveillance warrant, but that plea resulted in no jail time.) The jury deliberations in these convoluted cases required only hours, not days.

So, despite millions of dollars spent, with all the resources of the Justice Department behind him, Durham failed to prove much except that his legal prowess had been wildly exaggerated. The prosecutor in the Danchenko case did contrive, no doubt by mistake, to show that the FBI had very sound reasons to investigate Trump's Russia ties, regardless of the Steele dossier (which was never presented as anything beyond raw, unproved and intriguing chatter).

When asked by the prosecution why the counterintelligence division opened that case, FBI analyst Brian Auten gave a simple, truthful, and well-known answer: The United States received a reliable tip from a friendly foreign government about a Trump campaign aide who bragged that the Russians had offered to help defeat Hillary Clinton.

In that moment, Auten exploded Trump's outrageously false attacks on the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement, along with the entire rationale for Durham's snipe hunt.

Why does this still matter? In a world imperiled by Russian aggression, the resilience and unity of Western governments remains our only defense against an increasingly grim authoritarian future. At the core of that defense is NATO, an alliance that relies enormously on the United States. As midterm elections approach, the painstaking effort by President Joe Biden to renew NATO and support beleaguered Ukraine against the war criminal Vladimir Putin are under threat from a potential Republican Congress.

Trump's "hoax" lies about Russia, which damaged U.S. relations with Ukraine during his presidency, were always designed to conceal his very dubious relationship with Putin. He and his semi-fascist MAGA Republicans, who will hold important positions if the Republicans win control, would abandon Ukraine and perhaps wreck NATO, all in service of the Kremlin. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who would become Speaker, has said that his caucus would reduce or eliminate military aid to Ukraine — a diplomatic disaster of historic dimensions.

In his quest for power, McCarthy has cast aside his own insight into Trump's character and loyalty, which he privately disclosed to Republican members in June 2016. He told them then that he believed Putin was paying Trump, and added, "Swear to God."

Trump's subservience to Putin and his sway over the Republican Party's "semi-fascist" leadership still matter enormously. The investigation of "Russia Russia Russia" revealed a grave threat to U.S. and world security — and that threat has not receded an inch.

To find out more about Joe Conason and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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