Fischer v. United States | |
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Full case name | Joseph W. Fischer v. United States |
Docket no. | 23-5572 |
Case history | |
Prior | Dismissed charge of obstruction, 1:21-cr-234-CJN (D.D.C. 2022); reversed, 64 F.4th 329 (D.C. Cir. 2023) |
Questions presented | |
Did the D.C. Circuit err in construing 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c) (“Witness, Victim, or Informant Tampering”), which prohibits obstruction of congressional inquiries and investigations, to include acts unrelated to investigations and evidence?[1] | |
Laws applied | |
Sarbanes-Oxley Act |
January 6 United States Capitol attack |
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Timeline • Planning |
Background |
Participants |
Aftermath |
Fischer v. United States, (Docket No. 23-5572), is a pending United States Supreme Court case about the proper use of the felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding against participants in the January 6 United States Capitol attack.
See also: Criminal proceedings in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (election obstruction case), and 2024 presidential eligibility of Donald Trump |
On January 6, 2021, Joseph W. Fischer attended the Stop the Steal rally at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C.. Prosecutors said that Fischer had a physical encounter with police at the Capitol, urged on rioters during the Capitol attack, and said that he wanted to go "to war" and take "democratic [C]ongress to the gallows". Fischer's attorneys said that Fischer entered the Capitol building at around 3:25 p.m., after it had already been breached and Congress had already recessed, and exited the building about four minutes later.[1][2]
The felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding has been used to charge over 300 individuals in connection with the January 6 Capitol attack, and has resulted in over 150 convictions and guilty pleas. Among those charged with the provision include former President Donald Trump. The criminal statute covering "whoever corruptly alters, destroys, mutilates or conceals a record, document or other object...or otherwise obstructs, influences or impedes any official proceeding" had been created by the 2002 Sarbanes–Oxley Act in response to the Enron scandal, when accountants shredding crucial documents did so without being in violation of any laws.[3][4]
Fischer was prosecuted for obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, as well as assaulting a police officer and disorderly conduct in the Capitol.[5] Fischer and other January 6 defendants have argued that prosecution under the Sarbanes–Oxley Act should not apply to their circumstances, as they did not engage in actions in a manner similar to the Enron scandal which spawned the act's creation.[3][4]
In March 2022, District Judge Carl J. Nichols dismissed obstruction charges against three January 6 defendants, including Fischer, ruling that prosecutors had improperly separated the portion of the law forbidding obstruction of an official proceeding from the aforementioned evidence-tampering provision regarding actions against a "document, record, or other object". Nichols' ruling was not binding on other judges, and several other defendants have attempted to similarly argue that Sarbanes–Oxley does not apply to them before other judges without success. Nichols' rulings were subsequently appealed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.[3][4]
In April 2023, the D.C. Circuit reversed Nichols in a 2–1 ruling, finding that Sarbanes-Oxley was broad enough to cover the conduct of Fischer and the other two defendants. It held that the statute covered "all forms of corrupt obstruction of an official proceeding", other than actions already covered by the evidence-tampering provision.[5] Fischer also argued that he did not act with "corrupt intent", which was not addressed immediately by the D.C. Circuit. The court rejected this argument in a subsequent January 6 related case, United States v. Robertson No. 22-3062 (D.C. Cir. 2023), holding that "corruptly" in this context means acting with criminal intent, without an additional requirement of personal gain.[6][7]
Fischer appealed the D.C. Circuit's ruling to the Supreme Court in September 2023, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear his appeal in December.[5] The Supreme Court did not take up the cases of the other two defendants.[3] Multiple federal judges have delayed cases or released defendants charged with obstruction of an official proceeding pending the Supreme Court's ruling.[8]