That sharp intake of breath you just heard was the sound of Washington suddenly realizing it might soon hear what’s been discovered by Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating alleged collusion between President Trump and Russia. You probably wonder how we swamp dwellers can still be interested, and ask yourself, doesn’t everyone already know there won’t be a bombshell or anything on that account to inculpate the president?

If your mind was running in that direction, you’re probably on the right track for, as Andrew McCarthy explains in our cover story, Mueller’s conclusions shouldn’t quicken the pulse of ordinary people; he won’t reveal national security crimes or, as Democrats fervently wish, that Trump is Putin’s puppet. But ordinary people don’t obsess over minutiae or scour nuances to see if they can scrape together a smidgen of political advantage. By contrast, however, that’s exactly what Washington always does, and it will treat Mueller’s findings not as a long-desired end of the affair, but as the beginning, just the first chapter.