On Wednesday, the Supreme Court announced it will consider an appeal with significant implications for numerous charges arising from the January 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol. This includes charges against former President Donald Trump.
The justices are set to review a lower appellate court’s decision that reinstated an obstruction charge against three individuals. This charge pertains to the disruption of the Congressional session that was certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, in which he defeated Trump.
This particular charge is one of four leveled against Trump in the case led by special counsel Jack Smith. The case alleges Trump, a leading figure in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, conspired to overturn the outcome of the election he lost. Trump faces additional charges, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
The Supreme Court’s involvement in the obstruction charge case could influence the commencement of Trump’s trial, currently scheduled for March 4. The justices are also deliberating on a separate matter regarding Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution for actions undertaken during his presidency, though a federal judge has previously dismissed this argument.
Oral arguments in the Supreme Court are expected in March or April, with a decision likely by early summer.
Over 300 defendants from the January 6, 2021, insurrection, where supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Biden from assuming the presidency, face the obstruction charge. This charge is one of the most common serious felonies in the broad federal response to the riot and carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
According to an Associated Press analysis of court records, at least 152 individuals have either been found guilty or have admitted guilt to obstructing an official proceeding, with sentences already handed down to over 108 of them.
The charge was initially dismissed for Joseph Fischer, a former Boston police officer, and two others by a lower court judge who ruled their actions did not fit the charge’s criteria. However, the Supreme Court has agreed to examine an appeal by Fischer’s lawyers. Fischer faces a total of seven charges, including obstruction.
The other two defendants are Edward Jacob Lang, from New York’s Hudson Valley, and Garret Miller. Miller, who hails from the Dallas area, has already pleaded guilty to other charges and received a 38-month prison sentence. He, along with Lang, could still be prosecuted for the obstruction charge.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols had initially found the application of the law in these cases excessively broad. Nichols opined that the law required some form of action related to a document, record, or object to constitute obstruction of an official proceeding.
However, the Justice Department contested this interpretation, and the Washington appeals court sided with the prosecutors in April, disagreeing with Nichols’ narrow interpretation of the law.
Other defendants, including Trump, are separately contesting the legitimacy of using the obstruction charge.
Over 1,200 individuals have faced federal charges related to the Capitol riot, with more than 700 pleading guilty to various offenses.
