WASHINGTON—Today, in Fischer v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled against the government’s interpretation of 18 U.S.C. §1512(c)—a statute that forbids individuals from obstructing an official proceeding. By a 6-3 vote, the Court said that “to prove a violation of §1512(c)(2), the Government must establish that the defendant impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects, or other things used in an official proceeding, or attempted to do so.” Pennsylvanian Joseph Fisher faces criminal prosecution for entering the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and allegedly attempting to disrupt Congress in its certification of the 2020 presidential election.  

Heritage Foundation Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government and former federal prosecutor John G. Malcolm made the following statement:  

“The Supreme Court’s opinion virtually wipes out obstruction charges against approximately 350 individuals involved with the events that transpired at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. It also likely eliminates one of the four federal charges brought against former President Donald Trump. 

 

“The Supreme Court’s narrowed definition of this statute is a victory against government overreach when it comes to applying vague criminal statutes to defendants and situations never intended by Congress. It is more than clear that what happened on January 6th did not involve document destruction or witness tampering—as the statute indicates.  
 
“Relatedly, Special Counsel Jack Smith Smith’s efforts to convict the former president under this statute now becomes much harder, if not impossible.”