Jack Smith Was Trying to Close Up Shop. Trump Just Made That Very Complicated.

Trump’s lawyers are fighting to stop the DOJ from releasing Smith’s report that sums up his criminal investigations.

Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has produced a report summarizing their criminal investigations into Trump. Peter Dejong/AP

Special counsel Jack Smith’s highly anticipated two-volume final report isn’t set to be a bombshell about Donald Trump’s criminal behavior.

There’s every indication that the two-volume report will provide a fuller account that chronicles how Trump allegedly plotted to disrupt the democratic process in 2020 and attempted a cover-up of his classified documents hoarding at Mar-a-Lago. The report is expected to go slightly beyond the D.C. and Florida indictments, potentially including new quotes from witness interviews with federal investigators to build an overall fact pattern that describes a criminal conspiracy.

That much can be drawn from the description of the final report by defense lawyers who reviewed a draft over the weekend at the counsel’s government offices in Washington and were only allowed to take handwritten notes. In all, it’s meant to be a summation of a criminal investigation that was delayed at every step and ultimately fizzled out with Trump’s election.