What did Donald Trump do today?

He hinted at the appointment of a Secretary of State with close ties to the Russian government, a day after he attacked the CIA for its report that the Russian government had interfered in the election on Trump's behalf.

Rex Tillerson is the CEO of Exxon-Mobil, and an outspoken opponent of economic sanctions currently in place against Russia. (Tillerson currently holds Exxon stock options that would become more valuable if the sanctions were lifted.) He was given an award by Putin himself in 2012.

On Friday, the Washington Post reported the results of a CIA investigation that concluded that Russia had interfered with the US election with the intent of helping Trump win. The Trump team immediately responded with a terse statement saying the CIA was incompetent and declaring the issue settled. 

However, the rest of the political spectrum--notably including Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham--expressed deep concerns about further entanglements between Trump's White House and the Putin regime.

So what?

• It is insanely bad, for everyone, if foreign powers have successfully interfered in American elections.

• Blaming the messenger does not solve problems.

• Neither does pretending problems don't exist.