Supreme Court narrows use of obstruction charge in Jan. 6 cases, affecting Trump and hundreds of other defedants

Potentially upending scores of Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot prosecutions — including the case against former President Donald Trump — the Supreme Court on Friday narrowed the use of a charge of obstructing an official proceeding.

In a 6-3 decision that deviated from ideological lines high court concluded that prosecutors need to hang closer to the statutory language of the obstruction charge used in a slew of Jan. 6 prosecutions.

“The Government must establish that the defendant impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects, or as we earlier explained, other things used in the proceeding, or attempted to do so,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.