The case could also erase one of the biggest charges former President Donald Trump now faces.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/january-6-insurrection-supreme-court_n_66185128e4b011e99abd790e On Jan. 6, 2021, Joseph Fischer allegedly entered the U.S. Capitol, along with more than 2,000 others, in the effort to stop the counting of the electoral votes that was already underway.
Fischer wasn’t there in his official capacity as a police officer with the North Cornwall Township Police Department in Pennsylvania. He was there to, per text messages he sent that were later cited in a filing by Department of Justice lawyers, “take democratic congress to the gallows.”
“Can’t vote if they can’t breathe..lol,” Fischer allegedly wrote in another text message about his plans before Jan. 6.
Fischer, per federal charging documents, pushed his way into the building with yells of “Charge!” Once inside, he crashed into a line of police officers, according to a cell phone video he recorded. Fischer and at least one police officer were knocked to the ground. Police removed him four minutes later.
Later identified by one of his coworkers, Fischer was arrested by federal officers on Feb. 19, 2021. He was charged with multiple felonies, but has still yet to go to trial. That’s because he’s appealed one of his charges all the way to the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on April 16.
At issue is a law that makes it a felony if someone “corruptly … obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.” This law — known as 18 U.S.C. 1512(c) — was enacted as part of the accounting reform law passed in 2002, in the wake of the Enron and Arthur Andersen scandals. Federal prosecutors have used it to charge 330 people who were involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, including Fischer — and former President Donald Trump.
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Fischer argues in his appeal that the provision was not intended to be used in this way. Instead, he claims, a full reading of the law’s text shows that it was only meant to apply to the corrupt obstruction or impediment of documents in an official proceeding. This view revolves around the word “otherwise” in the provision, which reads (emphasis added):>(c) Whoever corruptly— > >(1) 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; or > >(2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so, > >shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. The main points of contention that emerged in lower courts were how the word “otherwise” should be defined, and how it connects the first subsection to the second. Fourteen district court judges have upheld charges for obstructing an official proceeding in Jan. 6 insurrection-related cases, on the understanding that “otherwise” means “in a different manner.” This would mean that the language of the first subsection related to the destruction of documents holds no bearing on the second subsection. But in an appeal to dismiss the same charge when it was brought against Jan. 6 defendant Garret Miller, D.C. District Judge Carl Nichols reached a different conclusion. In his March 2022 decision, Nichols wrote that the word “otherwise” imposes a limit on the second subsection, and “requires that the defendant have taken some action with respect to a document, record, or other object in order to corruptly obstruct, impede or influence an official proceeding.” Since Miller did not attempt to obstruct an official proceeding related to a document, Nichols wrote, that charge against him was dismissed. Nichols referred to his decision in Miller’s case to similarly dismiss the charge against Fischer.
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On appeal, a majority from a panel for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed. That ruling determined that the word “otherwise” should instead be defined by the “the commonplace, dictionary meaning” as “in a different manner” and, therefore, the “obstruction” prohibited by law does not refer solely to document-related crimes. The subsection Fischer was charged under “applies to all forms of corrupt obstruction of an official proceeding, other than the conduct that is already covered by” the first subsection, Judge Florence Pan wrote in an opinion joined in part by Judge Justin Walker. The appeals court panel, however, was not in full agreement. Judge Gregory Katsas dissented, siding with Nichols’ interpretation that “otherwise” meant “in a manner similar to.” Katsas’ argument leans on prior court precedent set in the 2015 case Yates v. U.S., which found the definitions of words in legal language should not be interpreted in such a broad manner as to depart from the underlying purpose of the law in question. Since the provision Fischer is charged with violating was enacted as part of a corporate accounting reform law meant to fix a legal loophole in obstruction charges for shredding documents, Katsas said, the word “otherwise” should be interpreted as operating within that larger context, rather than creating a much broader new kind of felony. “My colleagues acknowledge the mismatch, but they find it irrelevant because the governing text is unambiguous,” Katsas wrote. “But the text is ambiguous, and this mismatch is another reason for resolving the ambiguity in the defendants’ favor.” A decision in favor of Fischer would not only dismiss this charge from his prosecution, but overturn convictions or dismiss the same charge against 330 other participants in the Jan. 6 insurrection. That includes Trump, who was charged with four counts related to his actions on and leading up to Jan. 6, including obstructing an official proceeding.
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If his charge for obstructing an official proceeding were to be dismissed, however, that would not affect the other three charges Trump faces in the federal case, which is being brought by special prosecutor Jack Smith. A trial in that case is currently on hold while Trump seeks a ruling from the Supreme Court on whether presidents have “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for any official acts committed while in office. The court will hear arguments in that case on April 25 and could rule as late as June 30. If the court were to side with him there, all of Trump’s charges would be dismissed.
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shill glownigger tears inc
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>Chad SCOTUS once again throwing out Incel Democrat Fascism Based and Democracy pilled
Anonymous
They should have been charged with rioting, disturbing the peace not insurrection. Only tRump and 100 others did this.
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>>1286363 >overcharge defendants for purely politically partisan reasons >lose case because you overcharged >cry about how the system is broken Anonymous
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>>1286351 >The Supreme Court May Throw Out Hundreds Of Jan. 6 Convictions Let justice be done, though the heavens fall
Anonymous
>>1286351 The fact that we have political prisoners who were arrested for protesting a false election shows we are already under the thumb of Communists.
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ESL lawyers should maybe check with native speakers before arguing before SCOTUS cause this is nonsense.
Anonymous
>>1286385 The fact that people still support the man who surrendered the White House without a fight, let the regime take over, and has refused to present proof of the steal to the world after three and a half years shows how successful controlled opposition can be on a dimwitted populous.
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>>1286394 Oh, and pardoned rappers and his jew bankster buddies on the way out while leaving the people who stood up when he wouldn't to rot.
But he's totally going to fight for us if we give him a second term
Anonymous
>>1286385 The fact that traitors like you haven't been executed says otherwise.
Anonymous
>>1286394 >>1286396 biden literally surrendered the whitehouse to jewish pedophiles and flew their child rape flag
Anonymous
>>1286351 So the Republican supreme court packed by Trump, where the wife of one of the Justices was co-conspirator for the coup, is now going to just use word play to say it's okay to stage a coup.
Not shocking, also shows why judicial reform is desperately needed because of how corrupt the system is.
Anonymous
>>1286411 frankly it's amazing america made it this far given the imbalance of judicial power over the rest of the government
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>>1286408 And who surrendered the White House to Biden?
Anonymous
>>1286411 >So the Republican supreme court packed by Trump, Trump and the GOP never packed the scotus. It has been 9 seats since 1869.
>reddit spacing >also shows why judicial reform literally dem newspeak for packing the courts. whenever you hear the word "reform" it means something bad
>is desperately needed because because you are upset dems don't have a single party state and because you are so fucking retarded a 90 year old from kentucky tricked you into fucking your own ass, because you are literally dumber than a turbo boomer from kentucky
Anonymous
>>1286413 there is no imbalance. you just think there is because third world shitholes like canada, uk and nz have zero checks or balances and just give 100% control to the PM. the strong judiciary in the US is a feature, not a bug
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>>1286416 >The Constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the Judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please Thomas Jefferson, 1819
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>>1286418 the president and senate pick who sits on the courts
the congress gets to decide literally everything about the courts other than >there needs to be a scotus
and as the Warren court knows, the scotus can't do shit about things that get put into the constitution. see warren seething he couldn't destroy the senate like he destroyed the house and state legislatures
Anonymous
>>1286415 So you're a shill for the billionaire class and court packing.
Interesting.
Anonymous
>>1286425 trump never packed the courts. all he did was fill seats obongo was too fucking lazy to.
trump lowered my taxes
biden is trying to ban and take my guns
biden signed an EO allowing public employee pension fund managers to not be fiduciaries and to throw the money away one political ESG bullshit
biden used his first veto to veto a bipartisan bill that would have required public employee pension fund managers to act as fiduciaries
biden intentionally caused massive inflation to take money from the middle class and send it to billionaires who are making record profits
biden is wasting billions of taxpayer money by sending it to the military industrial complex in the guise of "aid" for ukraine and israel
biden used the "inflation reduction act" to raise taxes on people heating their homes and send money to china and other billionares
biden is flooding the country with millions of illegals and "refugees" to depress wages and to increase demand for housing so blackrock and other corporate landlords can profit.
dems are the party of the billionaire class, as seen by the fact that jew SBF sent them tons of cash and why literally every bank, mega corp and 99% of 1%er celebs endorse the dems
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>>1286427 remember when the senate refused to confirm a court nominee to congress because "we can't do that during an election year"?
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>>1286430 a. obongo's fault for picking an incredibly far left partisan communist who hates America
b. in the past 150 years or so since the civil war no senate confirmed a scotus pick for a president of the opposing party that was nominated in an election year.
c. Mitch was just following biden's orders. "we can't do that during an election year" is literally the biden rule, invented by joe biden in 1992
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/us/politics/joe-biden-argued-for-delaying-supreme-court-picks-in-1992.html d. you are just pissed off mitch beat you again with your own words, because mitch is smarter than literally every democrat
Anonymous
>>1286430 you're talking to the news schizo, he's equal parts evil, shameless and retarded. it's never much of an edifying experience
Anonymous
>>1286432 >a. obongo's fault for picking an incredibly far left partisan communist who hates America what? how was obama (not obongo, stop being racist)'s candidate in any way a far left, communist, or someone who hates america?
>>1286433 good to know, nevermind then
Anonymous
>>1286433 >>1286438 samefag
>>1286438 it was literally garland. garland is leftwing as fuck as shown by how biased he is as head of the DoJ. also he ruled anti gun on 4 out of 4 gun cases he heard, including heller. that should have gotten him deported.
also its literally obongo, you fags call trump drumpf
Anonymous
>>1286427 Trump and the Republicans packed the courts. Trump also raised taxes on the working class.
Anonymous
>>1286445 >rump and the Republicans packed the courts CITATION NEEDED
>Trump also raised taxes on the working class. nope, he lowered them
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/14/business/economy/income-tax-cut.html Anonymous
>>1286452 >Tax cuts for the rich never expire >Tax cuts for working Americans do Good job proving the Trump tax hike exists.
There's also tariffs which are giant taxes on Americans
Anonymous
>>1286499 brandon's fault. he had 4 years and never extended them or made them permanent
Anonymous
>>1286499 OMG LE DRUMPFFF?????
Anonymous
>>1286509 You mean Trump's fault for giving money away to the billionres and raising taxes on the workers.
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>>1286511 IT WAS DA DRUUUUUUUUMPFFFZZZZZ!!!!
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>>1286514 NOOOOO IT WAS HUNTERRRRRR
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>>1286511 He factually lowered taxes on everyone
Anonymous
>>1286516 he also evaded paying his own taxes and paid more taxes in china than the US
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>>1286511 trump lowered taxes on 2/3rds of Americans and also the trump tax cuts resulted in increased federal revenue in 2018 and 2019
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>>1286516 >>1286528 Nope, he made sure the tax cuts for billionaires were permanent and raised taxes on everyone else
Anonymous
>>1286522 While that's not Donald Trump, it is inexcusable when people involved with those who are, or have been, in public office commit tax crimes, and it seems to happen all the time all over the place, even Joe biden's family has been indicted on tax crimes
Anonymous
>>1286529 2/3rds of Americans got a tax cut
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/14/business/economy/income-tax-cut.html >https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-2017-trump-tax-law-was-skewed-to-the-rich-expensive-and-failed-to-deliver actual straight up communist jewish propaganda
>The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a progressive American think tank that analyzes the impact of federal and state government budget policies.[2] A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Center's stated mission is to "conduct research and analysis to help shape public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that policymakers consider the needs of low-income families and individuals in these debates."[3] >CBPP was founded in 1981 by Robert Greenstein, a former political appointee in the Jimmy Carter administration. Greenstein founded the organization, which is based in Washington, D.C., to provide an alternative perspective on the social policy initiatives of the Ronald Reagan administration.[4] >>1286533 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/14/business/economy/income-tax-cut.html he lowered taxes on 2/3rds of Americans. any tax hikes since then were done by biden and the dems so they can send more money to the MIC, china, israel and ukraine
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>>1286535 >While that's not Donald Trump That is the one, the only, Donald J Trump
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>>1286537 >i love trump! da jooz! >:( you're very confused aren't you
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>>1286538 No, it's a corporation that uses his name that someone else committed the tax crime at
Anonymous
>>1286537 Then they expired and it was a tax hike on the working class to give money to the rich.
Anonymous
>>1286556 why did brandon intentionally let them expire? 100% dems fault for not renewing them
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>>1286555 Then why does he have to pay the fine with his personal fortune? Oh that's right, as CEO of the Trump organization he was personally responsible for the fraud that took place.
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>>1286571 Why were they created to expire but not the corporate tax cuts? (protip: it's because it was always meant to be a giveaway to corporations)
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>>1286351 Never forget
>The Boomer Squad and Shaman was considered an insurrection despite them literally being let in and mostly peaceful >The BLM mob that was literally trying to break into the White House to kill Trump was considered a 'peaceful' protest. Anonymous
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>>1286658 Still not an insurrection
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>>1286660 failed insurrection
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>>1286661 >insurrection You mean protest
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>>1286662 violent protest with the goal of interrupting the democratic process. aka insurrection
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>>1286663 >fiery but mostly peaceful protest FTFY
Anonymous
>>1286665 at least your stupidity is always entertaining
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>>1286667 >thinks men can get pregnant >will now derail the entire thread getting mad at troon jokes Anonymous
>>1286668 i accept your concession
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commence shill breakdown
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It was a coup, the Republican supreme court is now giving cover for Trump's next coup attempt.
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>>1286427 >>t. shitty white collar small business owner Anonymous
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>>1286452 >>nope, he lowered them (You) are not working class.
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>>1286571 The benefactors will not allow the cuts to be renewed. One way street.
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>>1286427 Jesus what lies has your gf's bull been telling you dude.
>dems are the party of the billionaire class ummm do i even have to say it lmfao
b r a i n w a s h e d
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>>1286427 this is your brain on newsmaxx
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>>1286411 >muh coup never happened. It was an actual peaceful protest, unlike the violent race riots Democrats supported
Anonymous
>>1286659 this is a correct use of that word. Secret Service even took Trump to a bunker because the mob was shooting fireworks at them.
>>1286663 >violent stealing a podium and cleaning up trash is not violent.
>>1286665 it wasn't even fiery, there were zero fires, it was just peaceful.
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>>1286780 >stealing a podium and cleaning up trash is not violent. how about assaulting hundreds of police officers
The Xe/Xir Who Cried Coup
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>>1286351 I'M GONNA COOOOOOOOOOUP
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>>1286351 no shit it wasn't a insurrection. american snowflakes say everything is violence and terrorism.
Anonymous
>>1286363 antifas who burnt down new york and commited arson at "cop city" are allowed to be free even tho that was infinitely more violent. But people marching into the whitehouse despite trump telling people not to engage in violence is worst then 9/11
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>>1286396 the only traitors are the leftist scum that allow domestic terrorism as long as it's on "the right side of history" I hope you get anally raped in revenge
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>>1286413 >muh its unfair because i didn't get the one sided result i wanted >if its nto a kangaroo court it isn't justice >oh no how dare people say geroge floyd was a drug addict he was definitely wrongly assaulted and the court was right to convict a police officer for taking a criminal off the streets Anonymous
>>1286799 You mean the boogaloo riots?
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>>1286808 No, those only existed in the minds of schizophrenics and DNC think tanks
Anonymous
>>1286802 you sure are obsessed with downplaying january 6
Anonymous
>>1286810 you sure are obsessed with defending actual domestic terrorists by distracting them with the scary ooo jan 06
Anonymous
>>1286824 You're next, chud
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/04/jan6-riot-judge-letter/ >Judge to backers of Jan. 6 rioter: Don’t condone political violence Anonymous
Anonymous
>>1286827 >unironically quoting Mr. Milkshake's twatter This is why you keep losing
Anonymous
>>1286828 Antifa detected, opinion discarded
Anonymous
>>1286828 >everyone who holds me accountable can't be trusted wahh wah wah. I hope you drop the soap in prison.
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>>1286441 Stop shitting up every thread in /news/. You are literally mentally ill and need to go.
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>>1286774 You can't lie when the world saw Trump's failed coup with their eyes.
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>>1286838 >>1286840 lol Andysimps are eternally angry