Today, former prosecutors will testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee and detail why, after reading the report by special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE, they concluded that the president of the United States had committed a crime. I was one of more than a thousand former prosecutors who joined them in coming to that same conclusion.

I served as the United States attorney for South Carolina for six years, during which our office prosecuted everything from public corruption to white collar crime, holding accountable those at the top from powerful politicians and perpetrators of corporate fraud to those who preyed on the most vulnerable in our society, our children, and our seniors. We proudly delivered justice on the promise that no one is above the law.

That is the same reason why, with great hesitation, I was among those former prosecutors nationwide, from states as red as South Carolina to those as blue as California, who joined in a simple statement that if any other American citizen besides the president of the United States had engaged in the kind of acts that Mueller described in forensic detail, they would have been charged with a crime. Our fellow citizens deserve to know that truth, and Congress needs to wrestle with it because that is its job. Congress has a responsibility under the Constitution to keep an eye on the executive branch and ensure our laws are treated with respect.

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I took no glee whatsoever in coming to the conclusion that the president had committed a crime. However, facts matter. Facts, as one of our Founding Fathers said, are “stubborn things.” Mueller presented the facts objectively and let them speak for themselves. Indeed, he found at least 10 distinct instances that are the basis for the crime of obstruction of justice. Of these 10 instances, at least four have the three elements that are required to sustain an obstruction conviction, which are an obstructive act, nexus of the act to a proceeding, and corrupt intent.

The obstructive acts by the president include ordering his White House counsel to remove Mueller on more than one occasion and then asking him to falsify statements when it came time to deny the orders had taken place, trying to curtail the investigation by directing the attorney general to “unrecuse” and limit its scope, and tampering with witnesses such as Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen through public statements about their respective proceedings by offering pardons or threatening retribution. The president ordered people to lie and lied himself. That is disturbing.

The special counsel chose not to bring charges against the president, but Mueller emphatically stated in his report, “If we had confidence … that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice … we would so state … however we are unable to reach that judgment.” His report implies he was bound by the Justice Department policy that “criminal prosecution of a sitting president would impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.”

I believe that the president should be held accountable for these actions, otherwise we risk a much more dangerous precedent. The special counsel report clearly shows that Donald Trump engaged in serious wrongdoing. If no one holds him accountable now, future presidents will know they can ignore the rule of law as well. Accountability does not mean discarding standing precedent and bringing criminal charges against the president.

Accountability means allowing the coequal branches of our government to investigate the actions that the special counsel highlighted, unimpeded by the person under investigation. As Mueller solidly wrote in his report, “Congress has the authority to prohibit a president’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice.”

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Despite a cover up by the White House, the House Judiciary Committee has pressed forward on accountability. It is arranging for hearings with key witnesses, subpoenaing crucial documents, and refusing to flinch in the face of resistance from the executive branch. The president has declared victory, but the House of Representatives is determined to live up to its responsibility under the Constitution. Still, it can only accomplish so much while the White House orchestrates another cover up. President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE refuses to comply with subpoenas or make available key witnesses, and is aided in his obstruction of ongoing investigations because he knows the Senate majority leader considers this issue of the president “case closed.”

The United States is a stronger country than this. I know it is. What “case closed” means is dismantling American institutions that have set us apart from other nations through history. It will allow politics to eclipse process and make a mockery of justice under the law. Congress has a job to do, and we should all hope it that discharges its responsibility with dignity.

Bill Nettles is a lawyer who served as the United States attorney for the District of South Carolina for six years under the Obama administration.