The guilty plea of Michael Flynn to lesser charges is an encouraging sign that the investigation is continuing apace. The fact that he is not currently being charged with the rest of the laundry list of apparent violations that have come to light is a clear sign that he is cooperating with the Special Counsel’s investigation.

The investigation must continue unimpeded. The Trump Administration must steer completely clear of interfering in the investigation and it must not issue pardons or obstruct the work of Robert Mueller in any way. If the Administration undermines the investigation or begins issuing pardons Congress must act, and it must act decisively to protect our democracy. To do otherwise for reasons of political expediency or for any other reason would be to sell out the very bedrocks of our democracy and send us hurtling down the path to oligarchy.  

The fact that Senators fielded calls from the President urging them to scuttle their investigation raises troubling questions. We certainly hope that they told the president that the calls were completely unacceptable and reported it to proper authorities but they must make it clear to the American public that they did. Nothing would excuse the reported moves by President Trump to obstruct justice and to have written that off to political naivete of the president would be completely unacceptable.