The following article by Morgan Chalfant was posted on the Hill website August 24, 2018:
Special counsel Robert Mueller has made use of an unusual legal tool that has allowed him to build a narrative about Russian interference in the presidential election while quietly pressing forward with his investigation behind the scenes.
Mueller has made frequent use of “speaking indictments” — a colloquial term used by attorneys and legal experts to describe indictments that go into more detail, and provide more facts, than what is required under law.
“A speaking indictment comes from the idea that the indictment does more than that — it speaks, it tells a story,” said Jack Sharman, a former special counsel to Congress during the Whitewater investigation.