Anonymous ID: 6961fe March 11, 2019, 3:09 p.m. No.5628812   ๐Ÿ—„๏ธ.is ๐Ÿ”—kun

Nearly three dozen sealed criminal indictments have been added to the federal court docket in Washington, D.C. since the start of 2018.

 

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Sealed criminal court files are assigned a case number, but do not indicate the identity of the parties or the nature of the charges, so it is impossible for the public to discern what those sealed cases contain.

 

But several legal experts told ABC News the number of sealed cases awaiting action right now is unusual. Fourteen were added to the docket since late August alone, a review by ABC News has found, just as the midterm elections were drawing near and longstanding Justice Department policy precluded prosecutors from taking any public action that could appear to be aimed at influencing political outcomes.

 

And the inadvertent discovery on Thursday night of what appear to be secret charges pending against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has drawn fresh attention to the mystery. Legal experts told ABC News that the sealed cases could be tied to Special Counsel Robert Muellerโ€™s ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and possibly part of a quiet effort to protect his investigation from any premature effort to shut it down.

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dozens-sealed-criminal-indictments-dc-docket-mueller/story?id=59249030

Anonymous ID: 6961fe March 11, 2019, 3:12 p.m. No.5628878   ๐Ÿ—„๏ธ.is ๐Ÿ”—kun

Prosecutors' best move: Charge Trump and seal the indictment

 

It is even possible that the president already has been indicted by a federal grand jury in a secret, sealed indictment that will be revealed only when he leaves the presidency. Of course, this is necessarily speculative, as prosecutors seal indictments to keep them secret.

Prosecutors generally use sealed indictments in three situations. The first is when they fear a suspect, upon hearing of his indictment, might destroy evidence before his arrest. The second is when they fear the suspect might flee. Neither of those applies to Trump. Even though he has the use of two well-equipped planes (Air Force One & Trump Force One), he is unlikely to flee the US and has no place to hide. But the third reason could be a factor: when the statute of limitations might expire before the suspect can be arraigned on the indictment.

Flynn mystery: Sometimes the quiet one has the most to say

Flynn mystery: Sometimes the quiet one has the most to say

Mueller and the New York Southern District prosecutors are bound by a Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president.

Even if the president does not run for reelection, the five-year statute of limitations might expire on presidential criminal activities that reach back to 2015 by the time he leaves office. That could include planning the "catch and kill' operation used on McDougal. These timing details are known only by prosecutors and those under investigation.

The issuance and sealing of the indictment would "toll" the statute from expiring. The issuance of the indictment stops the clock, and the sealing may prevent evidence destruction or witness tampering until the case can be tried.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/17/opinions/prosecutors-best-move-a-sealed-indictment-vs-trump-callan/index.html