Washington Post columnist tells special counsel what should be next

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne explained in a Washington Post op-ed that special counsel Robert Mueller may have walked away from his job at the Justice Department, but his work isn't quite done yet.

"It’s honorable of you to act as if you are part of a process that’s on the level. But there is nothing by-the-book in how President Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr have responded to your findings about Russian interference in the 2016 election or your evidence about Trump’s obstruction of justice," Dionne wrote in a Sunday op-ed.

Like many who listened to Mueller's press conference last week, Dionne was struck by the surprising coverage from outlets claiming Mueller "all but said" Congress should impeach Trump. He told Mueller that it wasn't good enough.

"You are dealing here with a president happy to tear the law and the truth — and, for that matter, you — to pieces," he continued. "Do you feel no responsibility to set the record straight when Trump distorts it day after day? You claim that, under the rules, it would have been wrong for you to say Trump broke the law. But that’s not what your boss, the attorney general, says."

Even Mueller's boss, Attorney General Bill Barr, told Jan Crawford on "CBS This Morning" that he "felt" Mueller could have reached a decision. Barr, however, could have ordered Mueller to reach the decision.

He noted that the public has a right to know definitively what happened when Barr puts out a four-page letter that counters Mueller's conclusions. "Why didn't you feel obligated to say something right away?" he asked Mueller.

"You can make up for that by going before Congress and doing what comes naturally to you: You can tell the truth," he encouraged.

Read the full op-ed at the Washington Post.