A federal appeals court has upheld the Justice Department’s ability to prosecute January 6, 2021, rioters with an obstruction charge, in a new opinion that is likely to bolster prosecutors’ criminal case against former President Donald Trump on the same charge.
The decision, issued Friday, who disrupted the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election….
The three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals split 2-1 in the decision.
Trump is scheduled to go to trial in his federal election subversion case in March. His attorneys are arguing to have the case against him dismissed.
The appeals court ruled in the case of Thomas Robertson, a former police sergeant from southern Virginia who was convicted for taking part in the US Capitol riot. Robertson had asked the courts to examine the use of the obstruction law in relation to the riot.
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But the Friday ruling solidifies that his conviction and others like it can stand. In Robertson’s case, the court found he had broken the law in multiple ways, making it clear he acted corruptly….