Provided there is sufficient evidence to support an indictment of President Trump — and there are many indications that there is — the special counsel, Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 election, and prosecutors from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, who are investigating payments to my client, Stormy Daniels, and Karen McDougal, should present their evidence to grand juries. Those jurors, citizens of our communities, should then determine whether the evidence supports an indictment of Mr. Trump.

The fact that Mr. Trump is a sitting president should not derail a process that applies to all Americans, regardless of stature or station. He would still have the post-indictment relief available to all citizens, including the ability to challenge the constitutionality of the indictment. Some also argue that indicting the president would critically impair his ability to lead the country. But this is a White House already engulfed in chaos and daily distractions. And if the House were to initiate impeachment proceedings, it is hard to see how that process would be any less distracting than a criminal indictment.

Support for indicting a sitting president can be found in the Supreme Court’s 1997 unanimous decision in Clinton v. Jones, holding that a sitting president has no immunity from civil litigation in federal court from acts done before taking office and unrelated to duties as president. That decision later famously led to President Bill Clinton’s sworn deposition testimony, which in turn served as the basis for impeachment charges.

On the other side of the argument, Assistant Attorney General Randolph D. Moss wrote a memorandum opinion in 2000 analyzing the constitutionality of indicting a sitting president. This followed a 1973 analysis by Assistant Attorney General Robert G. Dixon Jr. that examined the same issue in connection with the Watergate scandal. Both concluded that the Constitution makes a sitting president immune from indictment.

But other constitutional scholars have reached the opposite conclusion. Ronald Rotunda, who was part of the Watergate investigative team and served as an adviser to Kenneth Starr when he was the independent counsel investigating President Clinton, concluded in 1998: “It is proper, constitutional and legal for a federal grand jury to indict a sitting president for serious criminal acts that are not part of, and are contrary to, the president’s official duties. In this country, no one, even President Clinton, is above the law.” Mr. Starr himself said this week that he believes the Constitution allows for the indictment of a sitting president.