Personally, that's not true. horsefeathers, it would an insanely refreshing miracle if an abuser was actually upfront about what he did wrong and actually was sorry and wanted to be/do better and what he was actually doing/has done to be better. Not that it would absolve him, but holy horsefeathers, it WOULD make at least a bit of a difference. Dude, however, isn't even gonna sniff that, as per usual with these dudes. Would you have changed course on wanting him on the team? If so what would that have looked like? What you're describing would be better no doubt, but it's hard for me to imagine even a completely transparent and honest and truly rehabilitating Russell giving an answer that would cross that line for me. Especially given how much of the damage he inflicted was in manipulating his partners, the harm/apology/harm cycle, etc.