0:00

The Supreme Court sides with January

0:02

6th rioters. From NPR, this

0:04

is Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Detrow. This

0:07

is a persecution. He actually just stormed out

0:09

of the courtroom. Innocent

0:12

to have proven guilty in a court

0:14

of law. In

0:16

a six to three decision, the U.S.

0:18

Supreme Court has ruled that federal prosecutors

0:21

may have improperly charged over 350 people,

0:24

including former President Donald Trump, for

0:27

their actions related to the January 6th

0:29

insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The

0:32

charge obstructing an official proceeding has

0:34

historically been implemented for white collar

0:36

crimes like evidence tampering. The

0:38

Justice Department made it central to its

0:41

January 6th cases, arguing the

0:43

rioters' actions on that day obstructed an

0:45

official proceeding, and that would be Congress

0:47

certifying the 2020 election. But

0:50

the majority of justices disagreed. Writing

0:52

for that majority, Chief Justice John

0:54

Roberts said to prove obstruction, the

0:56

DOJ had to prove the defendant

0:58

interfered with documents or other materials

1:01

that were part of an official

1:03

proceeding. That's of course,

1:05

despite the fact the building was

1:07

ransacked that day. This case may

1:09

also affect Trump. In his federal

1:11

election interference case, the one still

1:13

on pause until the court issues another

1:15

ruling, likely coming Monday, Trump

1:17

faces four charges, including conspiracy to

1:20

obstruct an official proceeding and obstruction

1:22

of and attempt to obstruct an

1:24

official proceeding. So how

1:26

does the Supreme Court's ruling affect Trump's

1:28

case? NPR Justice correspondent, Kerry

1:31

Johnson explains when we come back. This

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fees, and restrictions apply. See

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Mint Mobile for details. And

2:15

we're back with NPR justice correspondent, Carrie

2:17

Johnson. Hey there. What exactly did the

2:19

Supreme Court majority do today? Well, the

2:21

court basically narrowed the way prosecutors can

2:24

use this obstruction law. Congress passed the

2:26

law after the Enron scandal, after they

2:28

realized it was a crime to persuade

2:31

people to destroy documents, but not to

2:33

destroy documents yourself. So they

2:35

made it a crime to obstruct an official

2:37

proceeding and they made it punishable by 20

2:39

years in prison a long time. After

2:41

the Capitol riot, prosecutors turned to this legal

2:44

tool and some of the most serious cases,

2:46

about 350 cases. But the

2:48

Supreme Court majority today said DOJ was

2:50

sweeping way too broadly and that to

2:52

charge people with violating this law, prosecutors

2:55

would need to show someone had somehow

2:57

tampered with documents or records or evidence.

2:59

This is kind of an interesting lineup

3:01

of justices, right? You had justice Katonji

3:03

Brown Jackson abide an appointee siding with

3:05

the rioters. Then you had justice Amy

3:08

Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee writing a

3:10

dissent. What did you make of that?

3:12

A really unusual lineup. Justice Jackson did

3:14

vote with the majority. She wrote to

3:16

say January 6 had inflicted a deep

3:18

wound on the nation, but that this

3:20

case was about something much more narrow,

3:23

just the scope of this law. And

3:25

Amy Coney Barrett, the Trump appointee, wrote

3:28

a very strong dissent. She said prosecutors

3:30

basically had an open and shut case

3:32

against this defendant, Joseph Fisher, a former

3:34

police officer. She wrote that using force

3:37

against someone with the intent to prevent

3:39

them from turning over a record in

3:41

an official proceeding is

3:43

actually obstructing the proceeding. And

3:46

Fisher faces six other charges, including assaulting police

3:48

at the Capitol and disorderly conduct. The case

3:50

against him is now going to go back

3:52

to the appeals court, which needs to figure

3:55

out how to apply the standard the Supreme

3:57

Court has set.