The Mueller report is coming. Here’s what to expect.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly close to wrapping up his investigation. Appointed in May 2017, Mr. Mueller has been looking into whether members of the Trump campaign conspired with Russian agents to interfere in the 2016 election, as well as whether President Donald Trump engaged in obstruction of justice by firing then-FBI Director James Comey, publicly denouncing the investigation, and dangling potential pardons.

No direct evidence of a Trump-Russia conspiracy has emerged to date, although it remains unclear what Mr. Mueller and his team may have uncovered.

Since Justice Department guidelines suggest that a sitting president may not be indicted, whatever conclusions Mr. Mueller reaches will likely be delivered in a written report to the newly-confirmed attorney general, William Barr. It will then be up to Mr. Barr to determine how next to proceed and how much of the report to share with Congress and the public.

If the report contains substantial evidence of wrongdoing, it could become the basis of an impeachment proceeding in the House of Representatives. 

Will the report be made public?

Mr. Barr said during his confirmation hearing that he would make as much of the report public as possible, “consistent with the regulations.” Under Justice Department regulations, prosecutors are prohibited from releasing evidence gathered in a grand jury investigation. Mr. Barr may also decide not to release parts of the report in order to protect sensitive national security information.

The Justice Department typically does not announce that it has decided against prosecuting someone – in other words, prosecutors don’t reveal evidence of wrongdoing and then explain why that evidence did not warrant the filing of charges.

An exception to that practice took place in July 2016, when

What might the Mueller report say about collusion? Roger Stone Paul Manafort  Michael Cohen If there is no evidence of a conspiracy to fix the election, was the collusion narrative a ‘hoax’? If Mueller report finds no conspiracy, will that exonerate the president?What other investigations might the president face?