With all due respect to Obama's florid incompetence, this is an easy mistake to make, even for a pretend lawyer. There are, indeed, technical differences between a criminal complaint eo nomine and an indictment, also eo nomine, but that technical difference is often lost on ordinary people and pretend lawyers and in many instances is of no practical effect. As a matter of practicality, a person has been charged with criminal conduct whether he's been indicted or is the subject of a criminal complaint.