They got Al Capone for tax evasion — only tax evasion. It wasn't very satisfying for his prosecutors. But they couldn't prove murder or racketeering. So they got him where they wanted him: behind bars. It wasn't elegant. But they got the job done.

Congressional Democrats need some of that Prohibition-era pragmatism. They want Donald Trump impeached. But unlike Capone's tormentors, Dems are largely ignoring Trumpy crimes they can prove in favor of those they can't — Russian "election hacking" that may not have happened at all.

Democrats seem determined to maintain their status as a political version of the gang that couldn't shoot straight.