To the Journal editor:

In his address to the nation on May 29, Robert Mueller gave sound advice to Americans who want to understand his report: They should read it. “We chose those words carefully, and the work speaks for itself,” he said.

So what does the report contain? Part one of the report says “The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election” and the Trump campaign “expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.” It also points out the campaign was aware of Russian interference, but neglected to notify the FBI and lied about it after the fact. The investigation was unable to establish that the Trump campaign and the Russians actively coordinated or conspired with each other, but leaves little doubt that the Trump campaign knew some of what the Russians were doing and tried to keep it a secret from the American people.

Part two of the report documents in detail a multitude of ways President Trump worked to hinder the investigation. Both in his address on May 29 and in the report, Mueller explained that under a long-standing policy in the Justice Department, the president cannot be charged with a crime while in office. Going further, he said that it “would be unfair to potentially accuse somebody of a crime when there can be no court resolution of the actual charge.” However, on May 29 Robert Mueller stated, “And as set forth in the report, after that investigation, if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”

Instead, Robert Mueller laid out the evidence in multiple occasions where President Trump may have obstructed justice. Over 1,000 former federal prosecutors have signed a statement asserting that President Trump would have been indicted for obstruction of justice were he not currently serving as president. Mueller pointed out that Justice Department policy “requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing” without specifying what that process is. Under normal times, that would likely be an impeachment indictment by the House and a trial in the Senate. But because it is highly doubtful enough Republican senators will vote to remove Trump from office, the other process is his removal at the ballot box. It looks like it will be up to “We, the People” in 2020.

TOM BRONKEN

Marquette