Recent events have been clues to how Donald Trump's next administration will turn out, an ex-prosecutor said Wednesday.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote in her Substack blog about the failure to get Donald Trump's criminal cases to trial before the election. She then ponders why the Attorney General won't take steps to make the rest of special counsel Jack Smith's work public, especially as it relates to Trump's criminal documents case.

"Given the case’s inevitable fate, why won’t Merrick Garland just dismiss it now, so he can release Volume 2? Maybe he still will. There is little reason not to. Although there is grand jury and possibly classified information in the report that would need to be redacted, it would serve the truth-telling function of the criminal justice system," she wrote. "There will be no punishment for defendant Trump in the federal cases. He will not be deterred, not will others, by two failed prosecutions. He will not be incapacitated so he can do no further harm. So all that is left is releasing the report so the public can get some semblance of the facts, not conjecture, but evidence."

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The attorney added that it would be "uniquely ironic if the Special Counsel’s report on this case, alone, out of all of the special counsel matters—Mueller, Durham, Hur, Weiss, and so on—remained unreleased."

Vance goes on to summarize the situation as she sees it, before issuing her warning.

"Jack Smith didn’t get his cases to trial. Our democracy would be better off if he could have. A jury should have decided these cases. Ultimately, the Supreme Court and Judge Cannon will have much to answer for when we see what path a president who conflates politics and the rule of law puts the country on," she wrote. "It’s a stark warning about what is coming."

Vance then added:

"It has become popular for people to say, as they did in 2016, 'it won’t be as bad as everyone said.' I’ve heard so many variations on this. People who are counting on Trump’s ineptitude or Americans’ lack of willingness to go along with extreme measures like mass deportations," she wrote. "Then there was Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing to be Secretary of Defense today. If Jack Smith’s report is the past, it is the future."

Read the post here.

The draft is three weeks away now. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson have pieced together an off-season that is earning widespread praise across the league. The question is whether they can stick the landing with their 1st round pick in the draft. Current projections have the top three picks likely being a mix of Cam Ward, Travis Hunter, and Abdul Carter. After that, it gets tricky. People in Chicago want to know where running back Ashton Jeanty will end once the dust settles.

Widespread belief has been that the Las Vegas Raiders are the heavy favorites to take him at 6th overall, with New Orleans at #9 also being a possibility. It makes sense. Las Vegas’ best option right now is a 33-year-old Raheem Mostert. New Orleans knows Alvin Kamara turns 30 in July. Both teams need to think about the future at that position. Both have head coaches who like to run the ball. One thing is clear. A source told SM that those around the league believe one thing is certain.

“He likely won’t get passed Chicago if he falls that far.”

Ashton Jeanty is a strong probability for the Bears.

Whispers from Halas Hall indicate they love the Boise State star. It isn’t hard to see why. He nearly broke Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record in 2024, nearly winning the Heisman in the process. The guy carried his team to the college football playoffs. He’s built like a brick house with power, speed, contact balance, and vision. There aren’t any truly glaring weaknesses in his game. He’s earned comparisons to the likes of LaDainian Tomlinson and Marshawn Lynch. The Bears haven’t had a back of that caliber since Matt Forte.

Try to imagine what this offense could look like with Ashton Jeanty, Rome Odunze, D.J. Moore, and Cole Kmet all as options for quarterback Caleb Williams. Throw all of it into Johnson’s offense, and you can understand why some people around the league aren’t wild about the idea. They are quietly hoping Jeanty goes somewhere else. One thing is certain. If he gets past the Raiders, the noise will get loud in a hurry. It would mark the first time in 20 years the Bears have taken a running back in the 1st round.