The Supreme Court on Friday sharply narrowed the Justice Department’s use of a key federal charge against roughly 250 people awaiting trial or convicted as part of the pro-Trump mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, potentially overturning their convictions and shortening some of their sentences.
The high court ruled 6-3 that prosecutors could not broadly apply a federal statute that makes it a crime to corruptly obstruct or impede an official proceeding — in this case for interfering with Congress’s joint session to confirm Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory. The court ruled that the law applied only to tampering with or destruction of evidence such as records or documents.
Trump also faces the charge as part of the federal criminal case brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith. He is accused of seeking to subvert the results of the election, including by submitting fake slates from several key swing states.
