Oral arguments are taking place on Tuesday in the case of Fischer vs. United States, and things have already gotten contentious. They’ve also gotten hilarious depending on your viewpoint.
The issue the Supreme Court is looking to settle is whether the DOJ’s use of a statute regarding obstructing a congressional proceeding applies in Joseph Fischer’s case. That decision could affect the cases of hundreds of January 6th defendants and possibly scuttle some of the federal charges against Donald Trump.
Be sure to check out my colleague Brittany Sheehan’s excellent coverage for more details.
The case centers on defendant Joseph Fischer’s challenge to the Justice Department’s charges of “corruptly” obstructing, influencing, or impeding a congressional proceeding on Jan. 6. Lawyers for Fischer argue that the statute used, passed by Congress in 2002 primarily for financial crimes, doesn’t apply to his actions during the Capitol incident. The government argues that Fischer’s actions disrupted Congress from fulfilling its Electoral Count Act duties.
The question before the justices is whether a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, enacted in the wake of the collapse of the energy giant Enron, covers the conduct of Fischer, a former police officer. The 2002 legislation was prompted by accounting fraud and document destruction. The provision is written broadly, and debates are centered on whether it should be interpreted widely or limited more narrowly.
To this point, the conservative justices have shown some skepticism of the government’s case, which U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar is presenting. On that front, Justice Neil Gorsuch asked a question that many of us have been pondering. Namely, he asked whether Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who pulled a fire alarm before an important House vote and impeded a congressional proceeding, could be charged under the same statute. Astonishingly, the government responded with a “no.”
I giggled right after Justice Gorsuch inquired of the Solicitor General if that would be the same for someone pulling a fire alarm in Congress to avoid a vote! ROTFLAO!
Gorsuch likes beer! Preppy boy really isn’t up to the intellectual challenges of serving on the Supreme Court.