The Supreme Court will hear a case Tuesday that could have major implications for hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants — as well as special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
The case, Fischer v. United States, asks the Supreme Court to weigh the scope of an obstruction statute, Section 1512(c)(2), which penalizes anyone who corruptly “obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding” with up to 20 years in prison. Joseph Fischer, who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, argues that his prosecution under the law for obstructing Congress’ certification of the 2020 election was an “unprecedented expansion” of the statute.
The law, enacted as part of the Corporate Fraud and Accountability Act of 2002, was intended to target evidence tampering, focusing on “deterring fraud and abuse by corporate executives,” Fischer argues.
“Before the January 6 cases, no court had applied Section 1512(c)(2) to conduct not intended to affect the availability or integrity of evidence,” Fischer’s attorneys argued in a brief. “Nor had a defendant ever been convicted of an obstruction-of-Congress offense outside the context of a legislative inquiry or investigation.”
Fischer stated he was in the Capitol for less than four minutes — after Congress had already recessed — and “was not part of the mob that forced the electoral certification to stop.” He was arrested in February 2021 on several charges, including assaulting Capitol police.