The “sleeper” case could upend the nation’s most high-profile criminal prosecution. And how the U.S. Supreme Court decides the fate of the unnamed Capitol riot defendant will have immediate legal and political implications for the former president and perhaps future presidents.
The justices on Tuesday heard oral arguments in the appeal of Joseph Fisher, one of more than 300 people charged by the Justice Department with “obstruction of an official proceeding” for the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington. open.
The charges refer to obstructing Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has also filed obstruction charges against Trump, one of four charges facing the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. His trial in the case was scheduled to begin on March 4, but the Supreme Court’s decision to hear this case and a separate dispute over President Trump’s presidential immunity claims has postponed proceedings indefinitely. It was done.
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Donald Trump (left) and Jack Smith (Getty Images)
Fee
A federal judge earlier dismissed obstruction charges against three criminal defendants on Jan. 6, ruling that their conduct on Capitol grounds was not covered. Those defendants are Mr. Fisher, a former police patrolman, Garrett Miller of the Dallas area, and Edward Jacob Lang of New York’s Hudson Valley.
Fisher’s appeal was accepted by the High Court for final review.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed to the Trump court in 2019, ruled that prosecutors had exceeded the law by improperly applying the law to these cases, and that the defendants had moved to interfere. It ruled that he must have taken “some action with respect to documents, records or other objects”. Formal procedure based on law.
He concluded that the statute in question focuses on tampering with evidence and does not apply to those who allegedly committed “violent acts,” such as participating in a riot.
The Justice Department challenged the ruling, and a federal appeals court in Washington agreed with prosecutors that Nichols’ interpretation of the law was too restrictive.
The three-judge appeals panel found that “the majority of courts have adopted a natural and broad interpretation” of the provision, and that it specifically “encourages all forms of “The law applies to acts of obstruction.”
Other defendants, including Trump, have individually challenged the use of this charge, but not as part of the current Supreme Court appeal.
The relevant statute of the Corporate Fraud Liability Act, which is part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act — 18 U.S.C. Section 1512(c)(2) — states: In such a case, the person shall be liable to a fine under this title or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 20 years, or to both. ”
Congress passed this law in 2002 in response to the Enron financial accounting scandal. Executives at the Texas-based energy company were indicted on fraud charges, and the company eventually filed for bankruptcy.
In his decision in Miller, Judge Nichols quoted then-Sen. At the time, Biden referred to the new provision as “making document shredding a crime.”
President Biden speaks at a campaign event at Pullman Yards in Atlanta on March 9, 2024. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
competing claims
The government and Fisher, then a North Cornwall Township, Pennsylvania, police officer, offer contrasting accounts of his actions on January 6, 2021.
In a high court appeal, his lawyers argued that Mr. Fisher was “not part of the mob that forced the halt to the certification of electors. He arrived on the Capitol grounds well after Congress had adjourned.” Stated.
And although Fischer has acknowledged entering the Capitol and weaving his way through the crowd, he also claims he returned lost handcuffs to a Capitol Police officer. The defendant said he exited the complex just four minutes after entering it after being pepper sprayed by law enforcement.
But the Justice Department said Fisher “can be heard on the video yelling, ‘Damn it!'” Before pushing through the crowd and entering the building, the petitioner ran toward a line of police officers, shouting “profanities” along with another rioter.
And the government points to text messages he sent shortly before attending a Stop the Steal rally where President Trump spoke and the subsequent march to the Capitol.
In one post, he said, “Let’s take the Democratic Congress to the gallows” and “If you can’t breathe, you can’t vote… (lol).”
Fisher has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including disorderly conduct. Assaulting, resisting, or obstructing a law enforcement officer. Civil war. and the number of obstacles. His case is pending.
Supreme Court, February 28, 2024, Washington. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin, File)
His lawyers argue that obstructing or influencing an official proceeding, as it applies to Fisher’s conduct on Capitol grounds, is too vague.
“That definition includes the very acts of lobbying, advocacy, and protest that citizens employ to influence their government, all of which are forms of political speech protected by the First Amendment.”
But the government maintains that when Congress enacted the law, it intended the law to apply broadly, including “unauthorized acts that interfere with the proceedings of courts, agencies, or Congress.”
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“Evidence in this case will show that on January 6, 2021, petitioners and other rioters sought to fraudulently prevent Congress from counting the certified Electoral College votes in a joint session.” said a government lawyer.
Some legal scholars have suggested that the conservative high court may be wary of giving too much discretion to the government.
“Prosecutors love obstruction laws, and they love conspiracy laws, because those laws are so broad and can be applied to so many different situations to encompass all kinds of conduct,” says a leading appellate lawyer. said Thomas Dupree, former head of the Bush Justice Department. .
“The Supreme Court is going to look at what Congress was trying to do when it criminalized these things? Did Congress really intend for these laws to be this thorough? Can we consider the laws that were put in place to deal with crime? Why not apply that to what happened on January 6th?”
A scene from the January 6 riot at the US Capitol in 2021. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
trump factor
It is unclear how the Supreme Court’s decision in the Fisher case will affect President Trump’s individual prosecution on election interference charges. If Mr. Fisher wins his case, the former president could ask a federal court to formally dismiss his own obstruction charges.
This could trigger a new legal appeal and send it back to the Supreme Court for final review.
Nine days after oral arguments in the Fisher case, the justices hold a public conference to grant President Trump absolute immunity from prosecution for his actions while in office, including his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results and certification. We are planning to discuss whether or not.
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As a result, President Trump’s trial on conspiracy and obstruction charges has been suspended indefinitely.
Another challenge to the obstruction charge is also likely to be postponed until next year.
The case pending in the high court is Fisher v. United States (23-5572). A verdict is expected to be rendered by early summer.
