For almost a year and a half now, we’ve all wondered about the status of the investigation being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into the 2016 election and whether or not anyone in this country cooperated with Russia in order to help Donald Trump get elected.

We do know that Mueller has been following the money trail and has also indicted or accepted guilty pleas from people such as former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, but something said by a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee suggests that Mueller may indeed have an ace up his sleeve: Someone in the White House or Congress actively working to gather information regarding 2016.

Late last year, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) commented:

“Imagine if someone in GOP anti-Mueller campaign were actually cooperating with Mueller, and gathering evidence of intent to obstruct justice. Just sayin’. I’d love to see those emails!”

Talk about a game changer! Someone working publicly against Mueller is actually a double agent, a plant, a spy, and is investigating from the inside! Not just emails might be involved; it might also mean recordings of phone calls or even actual conversations obtained with body wires.

Here’s another scenario: A GOP member of Congress might be the person Mueller has flipped in exchange for immunity. We know that at least one Republican in Congress — Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) — is on Mueller’s radar screen. There could well be others who accepted money from Russian sources and are now looking for a way out. What better way than by assisting the special counsel?

Simply by making the suggestion, Senator Whitehouse may also have planted a seed of doubt among those who are trying their best to discredit Mueller, and that alone makes his comments incredibly valuable. Even if it’s just an elaborate mind game, it’s brilliant.

And now, with the publication of an op-ed by the New York Times from a current Trump administration staffer, Trump’s paranoia is said to have reached a fever pitch as he seethes in a reported “volcanic” fury.

Remember a lesson we learned from Watergate: One of the most important witnesses against Richard Nixon was his own White House counsel, John Dean. Trump may have his own John Dean working with him each and every day. And when that modern-day John Dean finally steps into the light and tells what he or she knows, it could be the end of Donald Trump.