A DC Circuit Appeals Court has taken that one step closer*….
This could help the Justice Dept’s case tiying the ex-President to his efforts to stop the certification of the 2020 Presidential electoral vote by Congress….
Trump continues to be NOT doing good in the courts recently….
A divided three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit, siding with almost all of the district court decisions considering the question, has held that some of those who invaded the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 could be charged under a federal statute that makes it a crime to, among other things “corruptly….obstruct[]…or impede[] any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”* The three judges offered three different interpretations of the statute, with Judge Pan, appointed by President Biden, reading the statute in the way that would cover the most January 6-related conduct, Judge Walker, appointed by President Trump, reading “corruptly” more narrowly but still potentially applying to some of the January 6 defendants, and Judge Kastas, also appointed by Trump, reading the statute (part of the Sarbanes-Oxley law dealing primarily with financial crimes) as applying only to “evidence-based” obstructions or impairments of proceedings.
This case has implications not only for hundreds of January 6-related prosecutions, but also potentially against Donald Trump, should DOJ choose to charge him with election-subversion-related activities after the 2020 election….
* This will probably end up in front of the Supreme’s