The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a Jan. 6 defendant's appeal of the Department of Justice's novel use of evidence-tampering law to prosecute hundreds of defendants for obstruction of Congress.
A miscellaneous order released by the high court on Dec. 13 granted the petition of Joseph Wayne Fischer, challenging the most widely charged felony in Jan. 6 cases, which carries up to 20 years in prison.
The Fischer case is one of three identical petitions for case review by Jan. 6 defendants who were charged with corruptly obstructing an official proceeding, namely a joint session of Congress convened for the counting and certification of Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021.
Defendant Thomas Caldwell, who was tried in the same case as Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and three other Oath Keepers, asked U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta to suspend his sentencing hearing until the Supreme Court resolves the obstruction case.
Defense attorney William Shipley predicted that the Supreme Court's decision to take up the obstruction case would put an end to the D.C. prosecution of President Trump.
"If the case turns in favor of the defendants, this will be life-altering for hundreds of people who were unjustly persecuted for a felony offense instead of the misdemeanor that was crafted by Congress for the trespass behavior at issue," Ms. Medvin wrote on X. Fritz Ulrich, a federal public defender who represents Mr. Fischer and filed the Supreme Court petition, told The Epoch Times, "We're very happy that the court has decided to clarify the scope of Section 1512(c)(2)."
Columnist Julie Kelly said she can't see a scenario in which the Supreme Court upholds the unusual use of the law in Jan. 6 cases.
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