Are these newly sealed SDNY criminal cases related to Trump Tower?
Even now that the Manhattan DA has empaneled a grand jury for the purpose of criminally indicting Donald Trump for his financial crimes, the proverbial jury is still out on whether the Feds at the SDNY or DOJ will end up bringing any federal charges against Trump. We wouldn’t expect any public action on that front until at least after the Manhattan DA finishes indicting him, as state and federal prosecutions tend to go one at a time rather than simultaneously.
That said, it doesn’t necessarily mean that nothing is happening behind the scenes. Researcher Tom Hogan noted that even as the five year statute of limitations for the infamous Trump Tower – Russia meeting expired yesterday, two new sealed criminal cases have been filed by SDNY this week. These cases could be against anyone at all – some random bank robber or something – and could have nothing at all to do with Trump or his associates. Even if it is related to the Trump Tower meeting, the two cases could merely be against the Russian operatives who participated. But the timing is nonetheless interesting.
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner gave credibility to the discovery, tweeting: “I find Tim’s string encouraging. And it makes perfect sense ASSUMING our law enforcement & intelligence communities are determined to hold a criminal president and other criminal high government officials accountable for their crimes.”
Again, this could be something, or it could be nothing. The nature of sealed criminal cases is that we have no idea who or what they’re about. But as we wait for the Manhattan DA to finish indicting Donald Trump, we should keep an eye going forward on the statutes of limitation for Trump’s other crimes, to see if sealed SDNY cases also pop up on the docket in those same timeframes.
