The Senate Intelligence Committee held their first hearing yesterday on Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. Former FBI agent and counter-intelligence expert Clint Watts testified, and he pulled no punches. He said Russia used social media to spread nonsense with Trump and his team willingly going along.

Watch this clip:

I just don’t get how anybody can ignore that.

Too often, Trump defenders erect straw men, arguing Putin didn’t necessarily want Trump to win, that vote tallies were not messed with and that there’s no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

All of that may be true, but it’s not relevant. Russia did what they could to influence the election. Trump was happy to play along.