About 350 Donald Trump supporters who participated in the 2021 Capitol riot that interrupted congressional certification of Joe Biden's election victory have been charged with obstructing an "official proceeding." So has Trump himself: The August 2023 federal indictment that accuses him of illegally interfering in the 2020 presidential election says he obstructed or attempted to obstruct an official proceeding and conspired with others to do so. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether such charges are legally valid in this context, and most justices seemed inclined to think they are not.
The question posed by Fischer v. United States is whether 18 USC 1512(c), an offense created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, encompasses "acts unrelated to investigations and evidence." Section 1512(c)(1) applies to anyone who "corruptly…alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object's integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding." Section 1512(c)(2), the provision used in the Capitol riot cases, applies to anyone who "otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so." Both are felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
