Keller @ Large: Let Facts Take Lead, Not Frenzy

BOSTON (CBS) - Here we go with another Washington, DC feeding frenzy.

You know the drill - suspicious info about a public official, followed quickly by the calls for investigation, the demands for resignation, the denials and stonewalling, the speculation and innuendo.

Where does the uproar over Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his contacts with the Russian ambassador fit into this messy tradition?

Time will tell, and in this case, that is more than just a measly cliché.

The Trump-Russia connection has produced lots of circumstantial detail, but few hard facts.

Accounts of clandestine meetings between Trump aides and Russian officials during the presidential race have been denied by the principals; an explosive dossier alleging compromising information about Trump in possession of the Russians contains unverified charges.

But there are a few facts that are not in dispute.

Earlier this year U.S. intelligence agencies flatly stated that the Russians meddled in the U.S. presidential election. As a result they were hit with sanctions by the Obama administration.

Another fact - during the presidential transition, the now-former National Security Advisor discussed those sanctions on the day they were announced with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

And we also know that Donald Trump, Jr. said of the family business back in 2008 - "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets."

Is it concerning? Yes.

Does it add up to proof of Trump campaign collusion with the Russians? No, not yet.

And despite the attorney general's recusal from the investigations of this stuff, it's best to let the facts take the lead, not the frenzy.