You know this entire thing was done only to seal the case. They desperately wanted the case and all the evidence sealed because it extended beyond smollett and into politicians spheres. Smollett would not accept responsibility or plead guilty even if they gave no jail time so they relented and let him walk without even so much as apologizing or accepting guilt and then simultaneously sealed all police evidence regarding this case from ever seeing the light of day covering it all up. If you dropped the charges why would you seal up the evidence, most of which was not public knowledge yet according to police only a tiny sliver of the case was made public so far.