It’s not over till it’s over, and it ain’t over

Former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi added that Mueller likely viewed his investigative purview as limited in the bigger picture of Trump’s transgressions and potential criminality.

“It would be very much like Mueller to say, ‘I’m all about our system of justice, I’m all about the rule of law—you don’t need me anymore but the system will take care of what remains.” In other words, he uncovered what was within his scope and now trusts that justice will be carried out by the cadre of prosecutors picking up where he left off.  

What that means for the American public is still a great deal of uncertainty in terms of immediate answers. How much of his report will we ultimately see? Did Trump commit crimes that Mueller decided he either couldn’t prove or simply couldn’t charge based on Justice Department guidelines? What will Congress do with the information? Will Trump, his family members, and other associates ever be charged with crimes beyond the scope of Mueller’s mandate? What about Roger Stone and other Mueller threads that still seem to be dangling? This is the grey the American public is now living in and, yes, it’s uncomfortable. 

I get people’s bafflement at the fact that Mueller didn’t bring more indictments before concluding his investigation. I along with probably everyone else reading this would like to see Trump removed from office one way or the other. He is by far the pettiest, least intelligent, least mentally and temperamentally fit, least civically minded, and worst public servant imaginable to be serving as president. He has transformed the entirety of the federal government into an apparatus dedicated solely to pumping up his flagging ego.  

Beyond that, people understandably want to see justice done, and there’s a feeling among a large portion of the population that something profoundly unjust took place in 2016 and that injustice has now infiltrated the Oval Office. But unjust and criminal are not exact equals, which is where the grey area of impeachment now comes into play. As House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler has long argued, not all criminal offenses are impeachable and not all impeachable offenses are criminal.

So as federal prosecutors move forward with the criminal strands left behind by Mueller, Congress will now move to the even less certain political terrain of whether Trump’s conduct during the campaign and also in office is impeachable. It’s not the closure people were hoping for, but the process must continue to play out. And as Americans we must continue to trust in and, when necessary, work to keep that process in check. It’s not going to be easy, but this thing ain’t over by a long shot.