THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES THE CORRUPTION UNUSUAL...:

The Trump-Russia case could become the ultimate illustration of the old Washington saying that it's not the crime, it's the cover-up. In this case, there might be no underlying crime at all.

The latest story in the cover-up timeline broke Monday night in the Washington Post. Citing current and former officials, the paper reported that Trump asked the Director of National Intelligence and the head of the National Security Agency to help "push back" against the FBI investigation and to "publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election."

Before that came a spate of reports and developments, all arising out of Trump's May 9 firing of FBI Director James Comey.

First, the White House portrayed the firing as 1) not Trump's doing, and 2) not related to the Russia investigation.

Then Trump told NBC's Lester Holt that he had in fact decided to fire Comey because "this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story."

Then, with accusations of obstruction in the air, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed a special counsel to investigate the Russia affair. Rosenstein specifically gave that prosecutor, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, authority to pursue any "federal crimes arising from the investigation" and specifically referenced 28 CFR 600.4(a), which is the part of the Code of Federal Regulations dealing with special counsels and obstruction: "The jurisdiction of a Special Counsel shall also include the authority to investigate and prosecute federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, the Special Counsel's investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses; and to conduct appeals arising out of the matter being investigated and/or prosecuted."

Then the New York Times reported that Comey wrote contemporaneous memos of his interactions with the president and that during one of those interactions Trump asked Comey to drop the investigation into fired national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Then the Times reported that Trump, in an Oval Office meeting, bragged to Russia's foreign minister and ambassador that firing Comey relieved Trump of "great pressure" in the Russia investigation.

As each revelation came, there was more talk of obstruction. (A Google search of "Trump" and "obstruction of justice" Monday night drew 597,000 hits.) Democrat after Democrat suggested Trump might have engaged in obstruction, while the list of Democrats calling for impeachment grew long enough for party leaders to worry about the situation escalating too soon. The newest stories will do nothing to slow things down, even with the president on a foreign trip.

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