US Supreme Court divided over case that could exonerate Capitol attackers and Trump

The judges of the Supreme Court of U.S They were divided this Tuesday over the application to a participant in the assault on Congress in 2021 of a law whose interpretation could affect one of the trials surrounding the former president donald trump.

At the hearing of the arguments, the more progressive justices, in the minority, supported the Justice Department’s position that the defendants, José Fischerwas involved in an attempt to disrupt the formalization of the victory election of democratic candidate Joe Biden.

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fishermana former Pennsylvania police officer, is one of the more than 300 individuals charged by the Government for obstruction of the official process, among other crimes, when a crowd violently invaded the Capitol and temporarily halted the certification of the November 2020 election ballot.

Most magistrates conservatives expressed doubts about whether in this case a 2002 law that penalizes destruction or tampering with evidence and obstruction of official proceedings.

The Department of Justice, which alleges that the unauthorized presence of fisherman Inside the building Capitol prevented the certification of the election result, obtained convictions or guilty pleas for more than 150 participants in the coup.

The special prosecutor Jack Smithconducting the investigation into the responsibility of trump In the coup, obstruction of an official procedure was also included among the four charges against the now virtual Republican presidential candidate. donald trump.

Fischer claims that the government’s interpretation of the law is very broad and unprecedentedand maintains that the obstruction of official process clause should apply only to the destruction or tampering of evidence in cases of financial crimes to which the law originally addressed.

This legislation, known as Sarbanes-Oxley Act and promulgated in 2002, was the response financial scandal and accountant for the energy company Enron, whose executives have been accused of fraud. The company ended up in bankruptcy.

So far, 14 of the 15 federal judges in the A.D who considered cases involving participants in the aggression, accused of obstructing an official procedure, allowed the application of this legislation.

The prosecution indicated that before the attack on Capitol, fisherman had sent digital messages in which he told his acquaintances that the members of the Congress “they can’t vote if they don’t breathe”, and that maybe he needed his police chief “I’m going to pay bail because there could be violence.”

Likewise, the Public Ministry maintains that fisherman urged other attackers to “attack and hold the line” and that he was part of the crowd that pushed police Capitol.

Fischer claims he arrived Capitol after the joint session of the Congresswho had to certify the electoral ballothad entered the playground and was only inside the building for a few minutes.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.