We don't know what he found under his remit to investigate "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump".
Presumably we'll find out what's in the report soon. However, we have gotten entirely too hung up on Mr. Mueller's investigation.
I'm not discounting his work. It has resulted in indictments, guilty pleas and in the case of Paul Manafort, a conviction by a jury. It has produced a mountain of evidence of malfeasance by Trump associates. It has turned up evidence of criminal behavior outside the special counsel's remit, evidence that has been or is being pursued by other U.S. attorneys' offices. That's a lot of bang for the buck. (And this is just what we know publicly.)
However, the significance of his final report has been overstated. It doesn't mark the end of our work as a nation. It's just a milestone.
What's next?
Attorney General Bill Barr must release the report — unedited by the White House. (Redactions by Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller are okay.)
The public must digest the report.
Congress, in addition to digesting the report, must continue its own investigations into suspected Trump administration misconduct. Congressional investigations have a wider scope than Mr. Mueller's and may well turn up information he did not.
What if Mr. Mueller's report doesn't include any evidence of criminal behavior on Trump's part?
It doesn't change much. We already know the doughy Don is not fit to hold office. The question is whether enough of the public can be awakened from its delusive faith in him to acknowledge that.
We have been choking on the stench from what most of us suspect is Trump administration corruption ever since he took office. Multiple Cabinet secretaries have been forced to resign because of ethical violations. Trump himself has refused to release his tax returns or to divest from his financial holdings while in office, as his predecessors since Nixon did. He overruled the recommendation of experts to secure a high security clearance for his son-in-law (and who knows who else). He bragged of firing James Comey to end the investigation into his campaign's links to the Russian government. He revealed sensitive, classified intelligence, garnered by a close U.S. ally, to Russia.
Not all these actions are criminal. Nevertheless, they are not acceptable for any officeholder, including the president. And impeachment does not require criminal conduct. Congress determines what constitutes impeachable behavior.
In addition to using the presidency to enrich himself, which is incontrovertible (and, in case you've forgotten, illegal), we are left to wonder: is he also compromised by a foreign nation, compelled to do its bidding under threat of blackmail? Might he also be hiding what he knows or suspects are criminal acts he and/or his staffers committed?
Wholesale corruption, coercion by a foreign power (or by a domestic one, for that matter), obstruction of justice — any of these should be grounds for impeachment.
Unless, that is, you're okay with a president squirreling away millions of dollars in what are effectively bribes laundered through his business, or being under Moscow's thumb, or letting his friends get away with murder (metaphorically or, heaven forbid, literally).
What we already know of Trump's own actions, as well as those of his staffers and associates both during his campaign and while in office, stinks to high heaven. More indefensible behavior may come to light: Congress, U.S. attorneys, federal agencies including the I.R.S., states, and cities are pursuing civil and criminal investigations above and beyond Mr. Mueller's.
Mr. Mueller's report doesn't mark the end of anything except his job as special counsel. The real work is just starting — and it's up to the rest of us.
We have to decide whether we'll continue to suffer Trump's corrosive and un-American corruption of our democracy.
Yeah — the fate of our nation is on us. Not Mr. Mueller. Us.
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