The chatter is building around the Russia probe being conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller.

It involves some aspects about whether the president of the United States can be compelled to do things the rest of us would have to do under threat of arrest and imprisonment.

We all have heard it said that “no one is above the law” and that “we are a nation of laws and not of men.”

Mueller’s probe into Donald Trump’s campaign and whether there was “collusion” with Russians who interfered in our 2016 presidential election appears headed down some new territory. There also are questions about whether the president might have obstructed justice by firing FBI Director James Comey, who was conducting an investigation of his own.

The special counsel has reportedly prepared a few dozen questions he wants to ask the president.

Mueller reportedly has told the president’s legal team he might subpoena Trump to appear before a grand jury. There is some arguments being offered that president’s cannot be forced to testify.

There even has been some talk that presidents are shielded against indictment.

This leads me back to a premise I noted early in this blog post.

If presidents are subject to the same laws as the rest of us, then Donald Trump should be compelled to testify before a grand jury. If the special counsel finds an offense that rises to the level of an indictment, then the president should be held accountable if the criminal complaint involves an act committed — allegedly — by the nation’s head of state.

The idea that we are a nation of laws and that no one is above the law isn’t a quaint notion that has become obsolete in the 21st century.

I am not going to suggest that Donald Trump is guilty of anything. I merely want the process to conclude in a manner that examines everyone’s involvement — and that includes the president of the United States of America.