DOJ dropping most Jan. 6 obstruction charges in pending cases

Multiple defendants from the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol who faced charges for obstructing Congress are seeing those charges dropped, according to a Washington Examiner review of court records, after the Supreme Court ruled that the Justice Department had applied the charge too broadly.

In the case known as Fischer v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Joe Biden’s Justice Department wrongfully levied a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding against Jan. 6 defendants, finding the statute only applies to conduct such as manipulation or destruction of documents. Ever since then, defendants who have yet to be tried or sentenced are seeing a consistent windfall from that decision.