Apparently the statute of limitations on obstruction doesn't actually expire until 2024:

[tblue37]

https://blog.stephaniejones.com/2022/02/12/dont-believe-the-hype-about-the-statute-of-limitations/

snip

The federal statute of limitations for crimes that are “continuing violations” – i.e., carried out through a series of acts over a period of time – isn’t triggered upon commission of the first act, but only begins to run upon the completion of the last act in furtherance of the crime.

Conspiracy is specifically defined in federal statute as a “continuing violations” crime. Other crimes, such as obstruction (when not part of a conspiracy) are also continuing crimes if they are committed as a series of acts in furtherance of the crime. As such, the first act of the obstruction doesn’t start the statute of limitations running.

Trump clearly engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct the Russia investigation through a series of acts that began in 2017 and continued until the investigation ended in early 2019. And even if it could be argued that he wasn’t part of a conspiracy but was a sole actor, his obstructive behavior still constitutes a continuing crime that can only be viewed as criminal when taken together. Therefore, the statute of limitation only began to run upon completion of the last act of his ongoing obstruction, which occurred in 2019 when the Mueller investigation ended.

This means the five-year statute of limitations on obstruction will expire in 2024, not next week.

Snip

Stephanie J. Jones is a lawyer, civil rights activist, policy expert, thought leader, and senior-level government official.

She was also Deputy Chief of Staff during the Obama administration.

[elleng]

1. 'only begins to run upon the completion of the last act in furtherance of the crime.'

[dem4decades]

2. So we can be disappointed that nothing is happening for another 2 years? Great

[tblue37]

3. I sure felt relieved when I read this.

[former9thward]

4. She doesn't know what she is posting about.

The obstruction charge requires a specific act. Not some hodge podge "continuing" violations.

Link to tweet

[sop]

7. This.

[Fiendish Thingy]

8. You might find this chart helpful:

Red squares indicate sufficient evidence likely exists to meet required criteria for conviction.

[former9thward]

9. The chart gives no evidence at all.

Whether there is evidence behind any of those allegations is up to the DOJ. So far they have not seen fit to pursue it.

[Fiendish Thingy]

11. It's a "heat map" from, IIRC, Lawfareblog, based on the evidence in the Meuller report

It’s been used widely by legal analysts- it’s not just some random chart.

DOJ policy is not to indict unless a conviction is certain, or nearly so.

[former9thward]

13. "DOJ policy is not to indict unless a conviction is certain, or nearly so"

That line is repeated on this site over and over even though there is no basis for it. They have the same ethical standards of any prosecutor. They bring cases when the evidence indicates proof behind a reasonable doubt. Their conviction rate is about 95%.

https://www.justice.gov/usao/page/file/1285951/download

[Fiendish Thingy]

15. With a conviction rate of 95%, that would explain the lack of Trump indictments for obstruction. Nt

[gab13by13]

5. Stealing the classified documents is obstruction of justice,

and Trump hasn't returned all of the documents yet. IMO the time clock shouldn't start yet.

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. There's a lot of mythology and misunderstanding about the Meuller potential obstruction charges

This post helps straighten things out:

https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/02/10/on-unrealistic-expectations-for-mueller-report-obstruction-charges/

Specifically, regarding the SOL:



(Red squares indicate there is likely sufficient evidence to meet the legal criteria for conviction of Obstruction- note that only 4/14 incidents meet all three criteria)

[bucolic_frolic]

10. The obstruction isn't continuing? They just retrieved the 15 boxes of obstruction

[Takket]

14. obstruction of the russia investigation, specifically....

the boxes wouldn't effect Russia investigation obstruction. unless of course there was Russia related materials IN those boxes drumpf was hiding.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. Thank you for posting this

[MyOwnPeace]

16. Yeah, there's this - yeah, there's that........

QUIT THE DANCING!!!! - RELEASE the entire MUELLER REPORT - UNREDACTED!!!!!!!!

WE paid for it - we NEED to see it without one of TFG's suck-ups telling us what we can and cannot see!