Supreme Court Ruling Could Upend Jack Smith’s Case Against Trump
Last week, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that more or less decimated many of the charges against dozens of J6 rioters and Donald Trump.
The ruling called out the government’s wide interpretation of criminal obstruction, which the Department of Justice used to charge all of these people.
Many legal experts, including Jonathan Turley, believe this will result in Special Counsel Jack Smith having to drop some of the charges filed against Trump in the J6 case, not to mention the charges that will have to be dropped and/or downgraded against J6 rioters.
Bad News for Dems
The question here is whether the riot at the Capitol was an actual insurrection, and the answer is no.
Was it ugly for conservatives? Yes. Was it a black eye for the movement? Yes. Did it ever threaten government control? No.
This has really put Smithi in a bind because that ruling in the case now impacts the Trump case, to the point that Smith may be better served not to prosecute Trump at all.
Theodore Cooperstein, an appellate attorney representing some Jan. 6 defendants, stated, “There is a very real possibility that if it is not dismissed, it would have to be replead or reindicted.”
Legal expert Jonathan Turley added, “For Trump, this rips the wings off the plane that Jack Smith has been trying to take off in D.C.
“Smith may try to go forward on the remaining counts. However, it is hard to see how the indictment holds together.”
Once again, Trump-appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the liberal side of the bench, writing, “There is no getting around it: Section 1512(c)(2) is an expansive statute. Yet Congress, not this Court, weighs the ‘pros and cons of whether a statute should sweep broadly or narrowly.’”
Justice Roberts penned the majority decision, writing, “If Congress had wanted to authorize such penalties for any conduct that delays or influences a proceeding in any way, it would have said so.”
Shockingly, Biden’s appointment, Justice Ketanji Jackson Brown, sided with the five conservative justices.