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Multiple defendants from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol who faced charges for obstructing Congress are seeing those charges dropped, according to a Washington Examiner review of court records, after the Supreme Court ruled that the Justice Department had applied the charge too broadly.
On January 6, 2021, Joseph Fischer attended the Stop the Steal rally at the
The felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding has been used to charge more than 300 individuals in connection with the January 6 Capitol attack and has resulted in more than 150 convictions and guilty pleas. Among those charged with the provision include former President Donald Trump. The criminal statute covering "whoever corruptly alters, destroys, mutilates or conceals a record, document or other object ... or otherwise obstructs, influences or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so" had been created by the 2002 Sarbanes–Oxley Act in response to the Enron scandal, when accountants shredding crucial documents did so without being in violation of any laws. Before its utilization in the January 6 charges, prosecutors had never applied the statute in cases that did not involve evidence tampering.
Latest DOJ stats on impact of Fischer (18 USC 1512c2, obstruction of official proceeding):
* of 126 cases pre-sentence, charge dropped in ~60; being pursued in 13; under review in ~53.
* of 133 cases post-sentence, charge dropped in ~40, still under review in remainder.
Biden DOJ Dropped Nearly Half Of Pending Obstruction Charges For Jan 6 Defendants After Supreme Court Ruling
The Biden Department of Justice dropped nearly half of pending obstruction charges against Jan. 6 defendants since the Supreme Court issued a major ruling in June, according to recent data.
The Supreme Court ruled in June that in charging Jan. 6 defendants, the DOJ had interpreted too broadly a statute that carries up to 20 years in prison for anyone who corruptly “obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding.” Since the Fischer v. United States ruling, around 60 of 126 defendants had the pending obstruction charges dropped, DOJ data from Sept. 6 shows.
