{"id":2217158,"date":"2024-04-10T07:02:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T11:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jack-smith-signals-hell-try-to-circumvent-scotus-if-it-says-obstruction-charges-arent-real-crimes\/"},"modified":"2024-04-10T07:05:17","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T11:05:17","slug":"jack-smith-signals-hell-try-to-circumvent-scotus-if-it-says-obstruction-charges-arent-real-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jack-smith-signals-hell-try-to-circumvent-scotus-if-it-says-obstruction-charges-arent-real-crimes\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Smith hints at bypassing Supreme Court if it invalidates obstruction charges"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjack-smith-signals-hell-try-to-circumvent-scotus-if-it-says-obstruction-charges-arent-real-crimes%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2217158&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The \u200btext discusses the\u200c legal\u2062 battle between Special Counsel Jack Smith and former President Donald Trump \u200bregarding 2020 \u2062election interference. \u2062Smith seeks Supreme Court support to uphold\u2062 charges despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israels-cabinet-votes-to-approve-hostage-release-deal\/\" title=\"Israel\u2019s Cabinet Votes To Approve Hostage Release Deal\">potential legal\u200b challenges<\/a>. The article questions Smith&#8217;s legal strategies and the implications of possible court rulings on the \u2063case. The\u200d article delves into the legal feud\u200d between Special Counsel Jack Smith and ex-President Donald Trump over\u200b 2020 election meddling. \u200bSmith\u2062 is\u2063 pushing for Supreme Court backing to\u2063 maintain charges, despite legal hurdles.\u2062 It raises doubts about Smith&#8217;s legal tactics\u200c and the impact of forthcoming\u200c court decisions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Democrat hacks have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/02\/opinion\/jack-smith-trump-indictment.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/jack-smith\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Special Counsel Jack Smith\u2019s<\/a> indictments against Donald Trump over the former president\u2019s challenging of the 2020 election are legally sound. So why is Smith grasping at legal straws in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/durham-fbi-may-never-have-investigated-false-russia-collusion-claims-without-clinton-lawyers-lie\/\" title=\"Durham: FBI May Never Have Investigated False Russia Collusion Claims Without Clinton Lawyer\u2019s Lie\">latest court filing<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Smith filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net\/static\/2024\/04\/20240408191803801_United-States-v.-Trump-final-for-filing.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">brief<\/a> with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the nation\u2019s highest judicial body to dismiss Trump\u2019s presidential immunity claims. Citing the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, the special counsel <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/08\/01\/biden-delivers-another-blow-against-his-primary-political-rival-with-latest-trump-indictment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">indicted<\/a> Trump in August over his speech questioning the administration of the 2020 election. This prompted the former president\u2019s legal team to file a motion essentially arguing that Trump \u201cshould be immune from prosecution because the conduct he is accused of constituted official acts of the president,\u201d as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/special-counsel-jack-smith-urges-supreme-court-reject-trump-immunity-claims-person-iaw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fox News<\/a> summarized. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-400581877\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-51689911b514072a0e370ccfe063606a fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-51689911b514072a0e370ccfe063606a\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe President\u2019s constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed does not entail a general right to violate them,\u201d Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net\/static\/2024\/04\/20240408191803801_United-States-v.-Trump-final-for-filing.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>As legacy media rushed to elevate the special counsel\u2019s arguments against Trump\u2019s immunity claims, they ignored a footnote in Monday\u2019s filing that telegraphs how Smith will attempt to have the former president convicted on several counts \u2014 even if those same charges are effectively dismissed in a separate case by SCOTUS.<\/p>\n<p><strong>[RELATED:[RELATED:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/08\/03\/jack-smiths-latest-indictment-is-legally-flawed-and-politically-suspect\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">6 Ways Jack Smith\u2019s Latest Indictment Is Legally Flawed And Politically Shady<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The footnote in question pertains to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/18\/1512\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18 U.S. Code \u00a7 1512(c)<\/a>, which carries up to a 20-year prison sentence for anyone who \u201ccorruptly\u201d:<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7679c56fae281c4937a17774a8514073 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7679c56fae281c4937a17774a8514073\"><\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>(1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object\u2019s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or<\/p>\n<p>(2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Two of the four charges Smith filed against Trump are based on 1512(c). Smith\u2019s preferred reading of the statute would allow the DOJ to interpret subsection (2) incredibly broadly. As my colleague Tristan Justice previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/18\/this-j6-defendant-spent-3-years-in-jail-for-what-the-supreme-court-might-say-isnt-a-crime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, the statute\u2019s \u201cobstruction of an official proceeding\u201d provision has also been used by federal authorities \u201cto charge so far more than <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/supreme-court-hear-major-challenge-felony-statute-capitol\/story?id=105623942\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">300<\/a> [Jan. 6]  defendants with felonies in the [past] three years.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the most frequently charged Jan. 6 felony, and the basis for keeping many protesters in jail without bond for months or even years before they reached trial,\u201d Justice noted. \u201cIt\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.declassified.live\/p\/a-red-flag-is-scotus-poised-to-overturn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">never before<\/a> been used in the way the DOJ has applied it to Jan. 6 protesters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A lawsuit challenging the Justice Department\u2019s abuse of the statute is currently being considered by the Supreme Court, with oral arguments in <em>Fischer v. United States<\/em> to be heard on April 16. Joseph Fischer, a Jan. 6 defendant, argues the second half of the statute isn\u2019t a license to prosecute anything that \u201cotherwise\u201d impeded a proceeding but rather should be interpreted as a modifier to the first half of the statute. In other words, as The Federalist\u2019s Margot Cleveland <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/02\/why-scotus-will-likely-smack-down-two-of-jack-smiths-get-trump-charges-as-non-crimes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a>, the argument is that \u201cthe statute only criminalized conduct that rendered evidence unavailable to an \u2018official proceeding.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n<p>A decision in Fischer\u2019s favor would seemingly negate the two 1512(c)-related charges against Trump and \u201cupend hundreds of charges filed by federal prosecutors against those present at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot,\u201d according to Justice. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-07b072247afbb1179d08f3279ac8bf2e fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-07b072247afbb1179d08f3279ac8bf2e\"><\/div>\n<p>In an apparent attempt to sidestep such a ruling, however, Smith argued in his Monday brief that even if SCOTUS deems the DOJ\u2019s use of 1512(c)(2) unlawful, the related charges filed against Trump should still stand because Trump somehow impaired evidence for use in an official proceeding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPetitioner asserts \u2026 that the grant of review in <em>Fischer v. United States<\/em> \u2026 suggests that the Section 1512(c)(2) charges here impermissibly stretch the statute. But whether the Court interprets Section 1512(c)(2) consistently with a natural reading of its text or adopts the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jack-smith-tells-supreme-court-to-keep-trump-charges-framers-never-endorsed-criminal-immunity\/\" title=\"Jack Smith urges Supreme Court to proceed with Trump charges, emphasizing that the Founding Fathers never supported criminal immunity\">evidence-impairment gloss urged<\/a> by the petitioner in <em>Fischer<\/em>, the Section 1512 charges in this case are valid,\u201d Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net\/static\/2024\/04\/20240408191803801_United-States-v.-Trump-final-for-filing.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>, additionally claiming that \u201cthe use of falsehoods or creation of \u2018false\u2019 documents satisfies an evidence-impairment interpretation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As investigative reporter Julie Kelly <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/julie_kelly2\/status\/1777671611518231002\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a>, Smith is essentially contending that \u201cthe alternative electoral certificates\u201d supported by Trump and his election team and submitted to Congress \u201crepresent \u2018documents\u2019 that were fraudulently used in an \u2018official proceeding.&#8217;\u201d By arguing this, Smith is attempting to preserve his ability to go after Trump based on subsection (1) of the statute even if his ability to prosecute based on subsection (2) is nullified.<\/p>\n<p>This argument requires Smith to make the case that \u201cPieces of paper signed and sent by other Americans to protest of a rigged election are now equal to accounting records destroyed in service of covering up a crime,\u201d Kelly <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/julie_kelly2\/status\/1777671611518231002\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a>. It\u2019s worth noting that contingent electors casting votes for their presidential candidate is <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/05\/15\/the-lefts-2020-fake-electors-narrative-is-fake-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">neither illegal nor unprecedented<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>[READNEXT:[READNEXT:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/02\/why-scotus-will-likely-smack-down-two-of-jack-smiths-get-trump-charges-as-non-crimes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why SCOTUS Will Likely Smack Down Two Of Jack Smith\u2019s Get-Trump Charges As Non-Crimes<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Smith is desperately trying to stretch the 1512(c) statute in the hopes that he can bypass a potential ruling from SCOTUS deeming the government\u2019s abuse of the law illegal. Such a slimy maneuver seeks to give federal prosecutors with Joe Biden\u2019s DOJ the power to continue their lawfare against Trump ahead of the 2024 election. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-81da023e59780120bdd92fac92daacf7 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-81da023e59780120bdd92fac92daacf7\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic operatives argue that Special Counsel Jack Smith&#8217;s charges against Donald Trump for contesting the 2020 election are legally justified. However, Smith&#8217;s recent court filing raises questions. On Monday, he petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking their support<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2217159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-02-at-2.27.50-PM-1024x573.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2217158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-02-at-2.27.50-PM-1024x573.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2217158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2217158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2217158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2217159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2217158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2217158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2217158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}