Looks like from USLegal.com. Title is cut off in part states investigations/proceedings are kept confidential? Think Magic. What you see . . .
It the explains the definition of sealed indictment. At the end is gives an example.
The magistrate judge to whom an indictment is returned may direct that the indictment be kept secret until the defendant is in custody or has been released pending trial. The clerk must then seal the indictment, and no person may disclose the indictment's existance except as necessary to issue or execute a warrant or summons
That kinda fits in one of our scenarios, that the last BOOM is folks being arrested.
Hmmmmmmmm. Thanks.
Even that increases the risk of a leak. If DOJ is working on 100 cases, as one of yesterday's Q-drops suggests, there is no advantage to "sharing" them with a court, until close to the time an arrest is intended to be effected.
The reason to have paperwork in the court is to protect the fairly tight timelines that due process provides between arrest and being confronted with charges.
Another thought occurred to me. Assuming the charges are in the nature of material support for terrorists, a general approach in open court would be to hide the ID of the terrorist, in order to protect an ongoing investigation or military operation. That precaution would not be required if the terrorist is dealt with first. Maybe a substantial part of the delay is dealing with the outside actors, so they can be revealed when the inside actors are arrested and charged.