Dear Mr. Trump,

With Roger Stone’s indictment, there’s virtually no one left from the people you’ve kept around you who hasn’t lied about their contacts with Russians, their attempts to obtain from Russia information damaging to Hillary Clinton, and your attempted business dealings with Russia.

Flynn, Gates, Papadopoulos, and Cohen all pled guilty to lying. And let’s not forget that Paul Manafort, your campaign chairman, pled guilty to conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice due to attempts to tamper with witnesses.

Back to Stone. Although an indictment doesn’t necessarily mean a defendant conviction, Special Counsel Mueller cannot obtain an indictment unless he has sufficient evidence to present to a grand jury. Because the grand jury indicted Stone, we know there’s a ton of documentary evidence that convinced a 23-member federal grand jury. So Stone obviously did as alleged: lied to Congress and engaged in witness tampering.

When Mueller goes to court to say that Manafort lied to the FBI about his contacts with Russians, we know there’s a ton of documentary evidence and must likewise assume that Manafort did as alleged.

And you lied as well, early and often, e.g., when you drafted a false statement about the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in which your campaign chairman, son, and son-in-law participated with the expectation of getting more Russian dirt on Clinton.

Why did everyone close to you lie about contacts with Russia? Because you wanted them to, and because you lied, repeatedly, yourself.

People don’t lie to hide their conduct when they feel their contact is legal and above-board. People lie to hide their conduct when they know that conduct is illegal, perverse, undemocratic, and morally barren. That’s why people of your ilk lie.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger