In a pivotal ruling that could influence the federal criminal case against Donald Trump, the U.S. Supreme Court has raised the legal bar for prosecuting obstruction charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
The U.S. Supreme Court raised the legal bar for prosecutors pursuing obstruction charges against defendants involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol in a ruling on Friday. This decision could impact the federal criminal case against Donald Trump for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss.
In a 6-3 ruling, the justices overturned a lower court's decision that had allowed a charge of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding—specifically, the congressional certification of President Joe Biden's victory—against defendant Joseph Fischer, a former police officer. The justices directed the lower court to reconsider the matter.
Fischer challenged the obstruction charge, which federal prosecutors brought against him and hundreds of others, including Trump, in Jan. 6-related cases. The ruling represents a setback for the U.S. Justice Department and the Biden administration, while potentially benefiting Trump.
Trump, the Republican candidate challenging Democratic President Joe Biden in the upcoming Nov. 5 U.S. election, faced the obstruction charge as part of a four-count criminal indictment brought last year by Special Counsel Jack Smith. This charge falls under the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, enacted after the accounting fraud scandal at the now-defunct energy company Enron.
Chief Justice John Roberts authored the ruling, joined by conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh, along with liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote a dissenting opinion, joined by liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Prosecutors accused Fischer of charging at police guarding a Capitol entrance during the attack. Fischer, then a member of the North Cornwall Township police in Pennsylvania, entered the building and pressed against an officer's riot shield as police attempted to clear rioters. He remained inside the Capitol for four minutes before being pushed out by police.
Fischer has been awaiting trial on six other criminal counts, including assaulting or impeding officers and civil disorder, while his challenge to the obstruction charge proceeded. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, granted Fischer's request to dismiss the obstruction charge, ruling it applies only to defendants who tampered with evidence. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed that decision, leading to Fischer's appeal to the Supreme Court.
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