That is precisely the wrong reading of this latest development. As is Department of Justice policy, when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced this complaint, he stuck to the facts alleged in the complaint but repeatedly emphasized that no Americans were charged with crimes “in this indictment.” Media reports indicate that the investigation is wrapping up its look into possible obstruction charges and now moving toward collusion. As criminal law experts (one from the prosecution side and one from the defense camp), we believe that Mr. Mueller is moving steadily toward the Trump campaign.

The signs are many, including the fact that numerous high-level individuals in and around the campaign have not yet been interviewed, as far as we know. (They include Roger Stone, Donald Trump Jr., Brad Parscale and, of course, Michael Cohen.) We do not know whether Mr. Mueller will ultimately find that those around Mr. Trump — or the president himself — knowingly participated in illegal efforts to influence the election or otherwise violated the law. But it would be recklessly premature for the president or anyone else to conclude that today’s filing absolves the Trump campaign and its associates of any wrongdoing.

Quite the contrary. After today’s indictments, investigators will be scrutinizing the widely reported contacts between Mr. Stone and Russian hackers and between another Trump associate, Rick Gates and a former Russian intelligence officer during the campaign. The indictment also alleges that the Russian conspirators targeted Clinton campaign email accounts with phishing emails on July 27, 2016 — the same day that President Trump called on Russia to hack the Clinton campaign. The two events could of course be nothing more than a coincidence. But it is hard to imagine that the special counsel hasn’t wondered whether it could be more.

If there was catastrophic wrongdoing closer to home, we are confident Mr. Mueller will find it and will charge it if the law and the facts allow. He is moving effectively and, for an investigation of this breadth and complexity, extremely quickly. If others in this country broke the law in connection with the last election, now is not the time for them to rest easy. The decision to allow the national security division of the Department of Justice to assume responsibility for this prosecution of Russian officials allows Mr. Mueller’s team to focus on investigating other issues here at home.

At today’s news conference, Mr. Rosenstein poignantly emphasized the need for the American people to view these indictments in patriotic terms. The victims, he said, were not one side or one party, but rather the American people. This is of course true, though one wishes that the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, could have had the same perspective before the 2016 election when he rejected an opportunity to sign on to a bipartisan statement about Russia’s election interference. Other Republicans — including those who have supported the work of the Senate Intelligence Committee — have put country first.