How a murky theory fueled a global hunt
and consumed the presidencyBy Simon Shuster/Kiev and
Vera Bergengruen/WashingtonNation
TRUMP’S
CONSPIRACY
COPS
The warning signs were There. in a
tweet or offhand remark, President
Donald Trump would touch on what he
said Ukraine had done to him during the
2016 election. Top Administration offi-
cials got an earful. Foreign leaders were
treated to the stories. Occasionally his
rants would unspool on live TV. “And
Ukraine!” Trump shouted down the
line to a Fox News host on June 19, the
night after he formally announced his
re- election bid. “Take a look at Ukraine!”
he went on, as the host tried to move to
other subjects.
Few people, even those closest to him
in the White House, grasped exactly what
the President of the United States seemed
to believe: that Ukraine, a nation con-
sumed over the past five years by a crip-
pling armed conflict with Russia, had
found a way to conspire against him dur-
ing the 2016 election, and to collude with
his rival, Hillary Clinton, by hiding the
Democratic National Committee’s email