John Adams was the principal author of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. That document became the principal model for the U.S Constitution of 1787. Adams wrote: “In the government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the legislative, executive and judicial power shall be placed in separate departments, to the end that it might be a government of laws and not of men.”

That remains perhaps the most famous quotation from the second president.

In its introduction, the Mueller report says the Constitution doesn’t “immunize a president” against committing obstruction of justice through Article II powers, and it falls to Congress to evaluate and protect against acts of corruption and obstruction, “regardless of their source.”

After reading part two of the Mueller report, about 10 situations wherein the president obstructed justice are presented.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives must do their constitutional duty and complete their investigation, then write up and vote on articles of impeachment. If the majority accept impeachment articles, they are sent forward to the U.S. Senate for the trial with the chief justice of U.S. Supreme Court as judge and the 100 U.S. senators as the jury; lawyers for the U.S. House on the prosecution side and lawyers for the president on the defense. Both sides can present evidence, call witnesses and make their cases to the jury. It takes a two-thirds vote of the 100 jurors (67 votes) to convict. The punishment is removal from office.

Congress needs to stand up for the Constitution, rule of law and democracy.

Crystal Ward, Lewiston