TIME cover by Ed Gabel visualizes Russiagate with White House consumed by St. Basil's Cathedral

TIME magazine released a provocative artist cover by Brobel Design's Ed Gabel, depicting the White House being engulfed by the minarets and domes of St. Basil's Cathedral on Moscow's Red Square. The image comments on the Russiagate scandal involving alleged ties between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and Russian interference in the 2016 US election. The cover arrives amid the sudden firing of FBI Director James Comey, appointed by Barack Obama in 2013, who had requested more funds for the Russiagate investigation. Trump reportedly urged Comey to drop the inquiry, which the White House denies. The Justice Department appointed special prosecutor Robert Mueller, former FBI head, to lead the probe. Trump called the investigation "the greatest witch hunt against a politician in American history" on Twitter, while also citing Comey's handling of Hillary Clinton's email investigation as the reason for dismissal. The cover suggests a Kremlin takeover of American democracy, with the White House transformed by Soviet architecture. The article notes the ongoing disinformation campaigns and the potential for a new US-Russia axis against ISIS after the April 3 attack in St. Petersburg, amid Europe's political and economic crisis.