Trump May Not Benefit From Supreme Court’s Jan. 6 Ruling—Legal Analyst

Harry Litman, a legal analyst and former deputy assistant attorney general, wrote on Friday that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in a case that may weaken prosecutions related to January 6, 2021, Capitol rioters is “less likely” to benefit former President Donald Trump.

The Court’s ruled on Friday in a 6-3 decision in Fischer v. United States that the federal obstruction statute, under which Capitol rioter Joseph Fischer was charged, is intended specifically for evidence tampering and not broader rioter conduct that he engaged in.

The Court held that in order to prove Fischer’s violation of the statute “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.”

The ruling narrows the scope of the federal obstruction statute that is used in many of the prosecutions related to more than 355 January 6 Capitol rioters who have been charged with obstructing an official proceeding.

Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the U.S Capitol building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. The riot erupted following claims from Trump that the election had been stolen from him via widespread voter fraud, despite there being no evidence to back up his claims. The insurrection resulted in one protester being shot dead and dozens of police officers injured.

Trump, the presumptive Republican 2024 presidential nominee, was indicted by Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith in August 2023 for his alleged actions surrounding the riot. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Monday in a case brought by the former president about whether or not he has presidential immunity for “official acts” undertaken while in the White House.

Although the Court ruled that Fischer, based on his actions on January 6, cannot be charged with obstructing an official proceeding, he still faces multiple other offenses including allegedly assaulting a federal officer that day.

In a Saturday Los Angeles Times opinion piece, Litman wrote that while the ruling is “of course good news for Joseph Fischer,” and may help some other rioters, “it’s even less likely to help Trump.”

Litman, the host of Talking Feds podcast, cites the Court’s debate over the interpretation of the term “otherwise” in the law. He explains the law “criminalize[s] conduct that ‘otherwise obstructs, influences or impedes any official proceeding.'”

And in this case, Litman wrote, “Trump’s alleged conduct certainly affected the integrity or availability of records, namely the valid slate of presidential electors. His purported scheme was designed to undermine the legal impact of those slates and replace them with fraudulent certificates forged at the behest of his inner circle.”

Trump is accused of subverting the election and creating fraudulent certifications claiming he won Electoral College votes in seven states he lost during the 2020 election.

Newsweek has reached out to Litman and Trump’s campaign via email for comment on Saturday.

Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade told Newsweek on Friday that she also doubted the ruling would affect Trump’s prosecution.

“This decision could overturn the conviction of some of the January 6 defendants, [but] it is not likely to affect Donald Trump’s case because it involves fraudulent documents in the form of fake slates of electors. In fact, the court seems to go out of its way to note that the statute covers fraudulently created documents,” she said.

Litman concluded in his opinion piece, “While Trump is not alleged to have destroyed or altered a document, he is alleged to have ‘otherwise’ impaired the legal effectiveness of the certificates.” He maintained that he doesn’t believe the Supreme Court’s ruling will undermine criminal charges against the former president.

On Friday, Trump posted to Truth Social, his social media platform, that the Court’s ruling was “Big news!”