Right there on page 10 of the report, in the context of establishing whether or not the Trump campaign criminally conspired with the Russian intelligence agencies:
Further, the Office learned that some of the individuals we interviewed or whose conduct we investigated — including some associated with the Trump Campaign — deleted relevant communications or communicated during the relevant period using applications that feature encryption or that do not provide for long-term retention of data or communications records”.
Do you know who quite likely does have copies of these deleted or encrypted communications? The recipients. Which is to say, Russian intelligence agencies or persons working as cut-outs.
Consider what happens if copies of an email saying “Candidate Trump agrees to weaken US sanctions of Russia in exchange for assistance”, or any similar quid pro quo, are made public.
- Trump is now exposed to charges of criminal conspiracy once he leaves office
- Trump is publically humiliated — the “No Collusion” lie is blown to smithereens, and the legitimacy of his election is gone forever
- Some voters, probably a significant share of the swing voters, become less likely to vote for Trump
- Conceivably his chances of being impeached go up, although getting 20 Republican Senators probably requires him to perform a late-term abortion on live TV while imposing sharia law.
So long as Trump is Putin’s bitch, this won’t happen — that is the point of blackmail. And of course we can’t subpoena Russian intelligence without the response being a laugh and “Nyet”.
I think it behooves Democrats to point out that it is in fact plausible, in fact probable, that Donald Trump is being blackmailed by the Russians, and yes Virginia, acting on behalf of an enemy because you are being blackmailed is still espionage. That’s why they don’t give security clearances to people like Donald Trump.