I have a question about a sentence from that announcement: """[...]and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.""" (towards the very end)
Is this standard phrasing? As a non-native speaker this sentence seems odd. I'd have guessed that fact and allegation are xor. The sentence implies that there can be facts that are also allegations (or treated as allegations).
That's just poor wording. What it means is "Everything described as a fact in the complaint should be treated as an allegation."
Criminal complaints are written as if everything in them is a true fact, unlike, say, newspaper articles that use phrases like "the alleged thief."
For example, a newspaper article about this complaint would say things like "The FBI's criminal complaint alleges that..." - even though the complaint itself states it as a fact.
Fact and allegation are indeed xor. Saying that facts should be treated as allegations is.. well... strange.
The phrasing probably comes from the legal-style-wording in which I imagine they are trying to ensure they are not able to be sued by the defendant under e.g. defamation by presenting their facts (by saying they are all allegations not facts, they cover all of their bases).
Is this standard phrasing? As a non-native speaker this sentence seems odd. I'd have guessed that fact and allegation are xor. The sentence implies that there can be facts that are also allegations (or treated as allegations).