LNG is going to cost more than pipeline gas no matter what. It needs to be sent to a liquefaction facility. Liquefaction costs energy. Then it needs to be transferred to ships. Shipping costs energy. Then it needs to be transferred to a gasification facility, gasified (of all the steps gasification doesn't AFAIK need an energy input), put into pipelines.

Any of those facilities and ships that don't already exist need to be built, that's not free, and plants and ships have a lifetime so there's an amortization cost.

Sorry to be pointing out the blindingly obvious, but you seem to not be seeing it.

Speaking of 'not seeing', there clearly was collusion, although it's not clear whether it had a material effect on the 2016 election. We had a president in power, plus members of his party determined to prevent any of this being discovered. Of course it cost money.