This week’s other Trump legal story
By
Byron York
April 16, 2024 5:55 pm
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THIS WEEK’S OTHER TRUMP LEGAL STORY. The trial of former President Donald Trump, the paperwork case over the nondisclosure agreement he had with a porn star, continues with jury selection in Manhattan. It’s been extensively covered; this newsletter wrote not one but two previews last week, plus more discussion yesterday. So enough about that for a moment. It turns out there is another extremely important Trump-related court event that took place in Washington today, one that could have as much effect on the former president’s future as the trial in New York.
On Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court heard the case of Joseph W. Fischer v. United States. Fischer, who in 2021 was a police officer in Pennsylvania, took part in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He is charged with many of the usual charges against Jan. 6ers — misdemeanor trespassing and disorderly conduct charges. The two most serious charges against him are “assaulting, resisting, or impeding” police officers and “obstruction of an official proceeding,” both of which are felonies. On the first, Fischer claims he was inside the Capitol when he was pushed by the crowd into a police line. But it is the second felony, obstruction of an official proceeding, that has become the subject of a Supreme Court case.
Federal prosecutors have charged about 350 Jan. 6 defendants, including Fischer, with this particular obstruction charge. According to the Justice Department, for about 50 defendants, it was the most serious charge they faced, the only felony, and the average sentence for them has been 26 months in jail. (On many occasions, the Justice Department wanted even longer sentences.)
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2968644/this-weeks-other-trump-legal-story/
