Bob Schwartz

There is growing public and political pressure to release the final report of the Special Counsel. The House this week voted unanimously—Democrats and Republicans—to urge its public release.

We will soon discover something that few have mentioned: there is likely to be no final report issued at all.

How could that be possible?

The charge to the Special Counsel Office is prosecutorial. Its stated role is to investigate and, when investigation warrants, prosecute. Fact finding will be involved in that, but it is not otherwise a fact-finder or reporter. It can be argued—and it will be by those who want to bury any inconvenient evidence—that once the prosecutions are done, the role of the Special Counsel is over.

There will naturally be political outrage in the face of that. Even some Republicans may publicly complain that without a report, millions of dollars will have been wasted with little to show for it. But privately, those Republicans will be relieved, as will Trump. The indictments, guilty pleas and trials taking place, and yet to come, are pieces of a damning picture. But a report would be a complete picture, which is why, one way or another, Trump and those under his direction or influence, will make certain that no such report is ever seen. And the best way for that to happen is for there to be no report at all.