DOJ used this law as many of the insurrectionists were purposely there to disrupt and obstruct the counting of the electoral votes and many had filmed themselves saying so, worked as a team to show that was their goal, or expressly acted in such a way that the FBI, a jury or a judge felt it was an appropriate charge. Well, all except THIS judge...
This case entails misinterpretation of a clause by Judge Carl Nichols
Judge Carl Nichols, one of the MAGA tRUMP judges, has misinterpreted the second point of the **charge below... and has put hundreds of the cases in jeopardy bow that SCOTUS has agreed with Nichols in favour of tRUMP and January 6 criminals. It will be especially egregious in that some took that felony plea and some will now be scott-free as the other charges were dropped or other charges were misdemeanors with no jail time!
Here is one frightening example: https://www.sorryantivaxxer.com/forum/general-discussion/highlighting-jan-6-insurrectionist-joshua-pruitt-proud-boy
The ruling affects tRUMP case
He was charged by a federal grand jury with two counts of obstruction of an official proceeding.
** The law:
(c) Whoever corruptly— (1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or (2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1512
*** ‘The appeal has been anticipated since Judge Nichols rejected DOJ's motion for reconsideration . At issue: 230+ Capitol Riot defendants are now charged w/ the 1512 obstruction count. Prosecutors don't want different standards depending on judge.’ https://twitter.com/JordanOnRecord/status/1539655325443248128
Nichols: ‘ DOJ appeals 'absurd' ruling, wants felony charges reinstated in Jan. 6 cases. Prosecutors say a D.C. District Court judge erred when he dismissed obstruction of an official proceeding charges against three defendants in Capitol riot cases.’ https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/doj-appeals-absurd-ruling-wants-felony-charges-reinstated-in-jan-6-cases-carl-nichols-obstruction-joseph-fischer-garret-miller-jacob-lang/65-53d35b10-e8b5-4af4-85fb-eddc50075dd4
***‘To date, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols[ tRUMP ]is the only judge on the D.C. District Court to dismiss charges of obstructing an official proceeding against any of the more than 700 defendants now charged in the riot. In a March order dismissing the count against Garrett Miller, of Texas, Nichols relied on a narrow reading of the statute — 18 USC § 1512(c)(2).’ Nicols is “considering” reconsidering… https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/judge-very-seriously-contemplating-reconsidering-order-throwing-out-obstruction-charges-carl-nichols-jeffrey-mckellop-joseph-fischer-garrett-miller/65-224d476c-9625-4bf3-b423-813420c7733f
We may know why Nichols was using a need to have documents and more evidence is his false reading of the obstruction clause…part 2. Sadly, it is more than likely to protect tRUMP who he knew did not keep proper documentation. (Besides protecting the Jan 6 insurrectionists, there is no way any intelligent human could misinterpret the reading of that clause) Too bad Nichols! There were documents… starting with the fake elector signed documents delivered to the National archives AND Ron Johnson. https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1539587868565413890