Supreme Court to examine federal obstruction law used to prosecute Trump and Jan. 6 rioters

Washington — The fallout from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol will land before the Supreme Court on Tuesday when the justices convene to consider the scope of a federal obstruction statute used to prosecute those who breached the building, as well as former President Donald Trump.

At the crux of the case, known as Fischer v. U.S., is whether federal prosecutors can apply a law passed in the wake of the Enron scandal, which makes it a crime to "corruptly" obstruct or impede an official proceeding, to the Jan. 6 assault.

Before the Jan. 6 attack, prosecutors had never used the law in cases that did not involve evidence tampering, as the first provision of the measure prohibits altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing a document. But since Jan. 6, it has been levied against more than 330 defendants who breached the building where Congress had convened a joint session to tally states' electoral votes.