Supreme Court Hears Jan. 6 Appeal That Could Lessen Charges in Trump Case

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today in a case that could affect the prosecution of many Jan. 6 defendants—including former President Donald Trump.

Ex-police officer Joseph Fischer has been charged with, among other things, obstruction of an official proceeding in connection with the Capitol breach.

That charge was initially dismissed by a district court judge, but the ruling was later reversed by a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court will weigh whether the appeals court erred in that reversal.

The case hinges on a 2002 law concerning “tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant” that was passed in response to the Enron accounting scandal.

The statute, 18 U.S. Code § 1512 (c)(2), is a follow-up to a clause that bars tampering with documents, records, or objects to prevent their use in an official proceeding. The provision Fischer was charged with extends that prohibition to anyone who “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”

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