The evidence suggests that he's to blame, but let's be careful not to 'jump to conclusions'. He may have a good explanation for what happened.
At this point, his victory seems to be a 'foregone conclusion'. [=his victory seems certain; there seems to be no doubt that he will win]
Most people felt that the outcome of the trial was a 'foregone conclusion'. [=they felt sure that the trial would end in a certain way]
(..) He simply sanctioned an already widely held idea. -Semantics. -No, it's not semantics. You're interpreting facts to support your own conclusions. Fact: For many Christians, Jesus was mortal one day and divine the next. For some Christians, his divinity was enhanced. Absurd. There was a formal (..)2006 The Da Vinci Code