Surviving Autocracy

by Masha Gessen

Mueller believed that an indictment by him would have paralyzed the presidency—a risk he was unwilling to take. But he was signaling that he had collected the evidence that would enable Congress to take the next step. The Mueller report was a manifesto of institutional restraint, consistent with the Mueller persona conjured by the media over the nearly two years of anticipation. Unlike the Mueller FBI, the Mueller investigation stayed pointedly inside the borders of its authority, as drawn on the most conservative possible map. Mueller opted not to question Trump in the course of the investigation. Most important, he opted not to make a determination on the matter of obstruction of justice. But in the dry language of his report, he was exhorting Congress to act, to pick up where he left off.

This is important.