SCOTUS May Hear January 6th Cases That Could Aid 2024 Trump Campaign

By Ward Clark | 11:48 AM on December 05, 2023

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The Supreme Court is considering hearing the appeals of three Jan 6th defendants, Joseph Fischer, Edward Lang, and Garret Miller. The three are seeking to have their convictions related to the January 6th, 2021 events overturned. The three are charged with several transgressions but the one in question is 18 U.S.C. 1512(c)(2) of the U.S. Code, which prohibits "...any effort to “corruptly” obstruct, influence or impede any official proceeding."

The Court has not yet set a date for the decision to review the case, but a decision may occur as early as Friday.

The court was scheduled to discuss the cases in their regular private meeting on Friday. But the meeting was canceled following the death of retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
The justices will now consider the cases at a later date, possibly as soon as next Friday.
The three men are seeking to dismiss a charge accusing them of obstructing an official proceeding, namely the certification by Congress of President Joe Biden’s election victory, which was disrupted by a mob of Trump supporters.
Trump has been charged with the same offense, as well as others, in his federal election interference case. As a result, whether the court takes up the appeals or rejects them could affect his case.

Even a delay in the case could have a significant impact on the 2024 Trump Presidential campaign. Delays in the prosecutions of J6 defendants under 18 U.S.C. 1512(c)(2) mean that this portion of the charges against Trump will be delayed as well.

What's interesting about this whole affair is that the Constitution, in Article II, Section 1, lists the only qualifications for the Presidency:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

According to the Constitution, Trump could conceivably be convicted of this or on other charges and still be eligible to be elected President, although it's more than likely that a conviction, however partisan it may be, would badly affect the campaign and the former President's chances in the general election. But if we've learned one thing from the Trump phenomenon, it's that expectations from previous Presidential campaigns don't always apply to all things Trump.

Charges notwithstanding, President Trump is, as of this writing, the runaway favorite for the GOP nomination. Primary voting begins next month.

If the Court should take up the case of the three Jan 6th defendants, the entire matter may well be delayed until well into the primary season, if not longer.

If the court rejects the appeals, a lower court ruling that allowed the government to pursue the charges against the defendants would remain in place.
But if the justices take up the cases, it would lead to a monthslong delay while they hear oral arguments and issue a ruling sometime during the court’s current nine-month term, which ends in June. At least four votes are needed for the nine-justice court to hear a case.

The Court could decide whether to take up the case as early as Friday.

FLASHBACK: See more recent RedState reporting on the Jan 6th issue at the links below.