Editorial: Mueller's done. Case isn't closed. Work goes on

“There were multiple, systemic efforts to interfere in our election. And that allegation deserves the attention of every American.”

The report he produced offers disturbingly ample evidence – including hacking into Hillary Clinton’s campaign computers – of efforts by “Russian intelligence officers who are part of the Russian military” to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and “damage a presidential candidate.”

Through the two years of work by Mueller and his staff, they stayed focused on their task amid overt and covert efforts to disrupt the work. It was not, as President Donald Trump repeatedly labeled Mueller’s work a “witch hunt.” Even to the end Mueller remained resolute and unflappable.

The report concluded:

“If we had had evidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said it,” Mueller said.

It was an important investigation that should concern every American about those who would seek to subvert our elections and manipulate how voters selected the government leaders.

President Trump, fearing any acknowledgement of the havoc the Russians sought to sow would tie him to it or somehow lessen his election, has diminished the report’s findings on election interference. His failure only emboldens others to seek to do the same while thwarting necessary and appropriate measures to make sure our elections are free and fair.

While Mueller could investigate the actions and activities of a sitting president, it could not charge a sitting president with wrongdoing. The process of gathering evidence, when “memories are fresh and documents available,” was important Mueller said. Further, while his office may have been prohibited from charging a sitting president with a crime, the Constitution “requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accusing a sitting president of wrongdoing.”

Mueller did the job he was assigned to do – and did it well. He has left it to the public to read the report and heed its findings.

It is up to Congress to determine the appropriate and necessary efforts to thwart future foreign interference in our elections. As significantly, Congress must carefully consider what action, if any, should be taken as regards any allegations concerning obstruction of justice – no matter who they might implicate.