WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — The U.S. Supreme Court this week agreed to hear a case with major implications for participants in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. The Court’s decision could roll back hundreds of felony charges against individuals connected with the January 6 riot, including former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Court on Wednesday agreed to review a ruling by a Washington appeals court concerning felony charges of “obstruction of an official proceeding” that had been lodged against three alleged January 6 rioters, the Associated Press reported.
A district court judge had dismissed the case, but the Biden Department of Justice challenged the decision and an appeals court agreed with Justice Department prosecutors.
The Court is set to hear arguments in the case next year. It is expected to hand down a decision ahead of its recess in June 2024.
In the review, the justices will determine whether former Boston law enforcement officer Joseph Fischer and two other defendants can be charged with the “obstruction” crime under a 2002 law that has also been used to charge some 300 other participants in the disturbance, including Trump.
“Ultimately, a ruling favoring Fischer could upend two of the four counts Trump is facing in the case, one of four criminal prosecutions against him,” Bloomberg News reported.
The AP noted that the move by the nation’s highest court “could threaten the start of Trump’s trial” for the January 6-related charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
The trial is currently slated to begin March 4, the day before Super Tuesday. The timing of the trial had immediately sparked allegations of “election interference” from Trump and other conservatives. Trump’s attorneys had originally asked for the trial to be held in April 2026, well after the 2024 general election.
Now, the pending Supreme Court decision could allow Trump’s attorneys to postpone the trial beyond the March 4 date.
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As LifeSiteNews previously reported, the Biden administration’s DOJ on August 1 handed down a four-count indictment that alleges Trump committed Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding, Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding, and Conspiracy Against Rights when he objected to the certification of the 2020 election.
Later that month, Obama-appointed federal judge Tanya Chutkan set a trial date of March 4 for Trump on charges that he interfered with the peaceful transfer of power in the 2020 presidential election.
In a November 1 report for RealClearInvestigations, political commentator Julie Kelly wrote that Trump’s attorneys have argued that the charges against him for his alleged January 6 crimes do not match his actions.
In a motion to dismiss the four charges, Trump attorney John Lauro wrote that the president’s “alleged conduct – publicly and politically disputing the outcome of the election, attempting to convince Congress to act, and allegedly organizing alternate slates of electors – falls outside the plain language of the charged statutes.”
According to the AP, the Supreme Court is also “considering whether to rule quickly on Trump’s claim that he can’t be prosecuted for actions taken within his role as president.” That argument has been dismissed by a federal judge, but it remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court will disagree.
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Trump, who officially declared his bid for re-election in November and has since been hit with charges in four separate criminal cases, continues to significantly outpace his GOP competitors in the polls. Recent polls also suggest that the former president is far ahead of current U.S. President Joe Biden. A recent Wall Street Journal poll saw Trump leading Biden by 47 percent to 43 percent.
“If the election were held today, Trump would become president of the United States,” Daily Wire podcaster Ben Shapiro said Monday.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s decision to review the January 6-related matter comes as the nation’s highest judicial body rejected several cases earlier this week of importance to conservatives but agreed Wednesday to take a major case that could trigger nationwide restrictions on one of the major drugs used to accomplish chemical abortions.