Trump has belonged to the Russians since the early '80s. Much like staring at the hole in 9/11 long enough produces a silhouette in the shape of "Bin Laden worked for the CIA and went off-leash", staring at Trump's finances produces a clear outline of "this man's finances have been propped up by the Russian Mafiya since Trump Tower." In other words, Trump's actions are the result of negative enforcement, not positive enforcement. The best explanation for Melania is she's a red sparrow.

The GOP is currently in the "who is the leader" phase of the changeover. The problem is Mitch McConnell isn't a figurehead, he's a backroom dealer. Kevin McCarthy is neither - he's a sycophant who goes where the wind blows. McConnell needs someone to work for, McCarthy needs someone to work under, Liz Cheney just said "if you strike me down I will come back more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

It's safe to say that the only people left in the GOP are craven opportunists. No one wants to commit to anything until it's clear they can turn it to their advantage. The only people with any clarity right now are the brave ones, and the only ones left are really really stupid. There will come a time when they can all safely bark to the howl of a new leader but right now there's still an outside chance that Trump could come back so they're hanging in the shadows, tail tucked.

The remaining task for the Democratic party (and the Republican party of the future) is how to get all the malcontents out of the way and make it stick. If you look at the past six years as a successful coup against the GOP the narrative becomes a whole lot more sensible.