Donald Trump has claimed that a recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of a Jan. 6 rioter exempts him from prosecution in his federal election subversion case. In a 14-page motion filed on Thursday, Trump’s legal team contended that the ruling creates a new precedent that should invalidate the charges against the former president.
The motion argues that the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision indicates that the Justice Department overstepped its authority in charging numerous individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol riots with obstructing an official proceeding. This ruling originated from the case of former police officer Joseph Fischer, who successfully argued that the law, Section 1512(c)(2), was improperly applied to his actions during the riot.
Trump’s attorneys claimed that the Superseding Indictment against him mischaracterizes the law by suggesting he is responsible for the events of January 6, 2021.
“The Superseding Indictment stretches generally applicable statutes beyond their breaking point based on false claims that President Trump is somehow responsible for events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021,” they wrote, arguing that the statute’s origins—stemming from a corporate document destruction scandal—make it inapplicable to Trump’s case, which they insist involves actions that should not be deemed obstructive.
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“Under Fischer, the Office may not use the statute as a catchall provision to criminalize otherwise lawful activities selectively mischaracterized as obstructive,” the motion claims.
“President Trump’s case should be among the next to be abandoned; if not, it should be dismissed,” his attorneys added.
As Trump’s legal team pushes this unprecedented argument, they contend that the ruling should lead to a dismissal of his case. “President Trump’s case should be among the next to be abandoned; if not, it should be dismissed,” they asserted.
The motion arrives as the legal proceedings against Trump take a new turn, with the Supreme Court’s clarification on presidential immunity potentially reshaping the prosecution’s strategy. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office has provided U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan with a roadmap for the case, emphasizing that the prosecution should not be derailed by the recent ruling.
Trump is set to respond by November 7, shortly after the upcoming election, and Judge Chutkan has instructed him to update his arguments for why his case should be dismissed on statutory grounds. While Trump’s latest claims hinge on the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the Jan. 6 rioter, they seem to lean heavily on an interpretation that many legal experts find questionable.
