SCOTUS to review Jan 6th obstruction charge...

Interesting that the USSC would agree to hear a criminal appeal case of this smallish magnitude...

Well they must have their reasons to take on what otherwise would seem to be a petty appeal for the grand court. One has to also believe that they see some merit in the appeal or they would have let this one just glide on by. I would venture the prediction that if this appeal had taken place a year ago that they might not have taken the case (you know how much Roberts tries to avoid high political profile cases). But there has been a pretty significant shift in the public mood and I believe there is political cover if they were to overturn this on appeal.

I will want to wait until someone with some true legal expertise wades in on the merits to make any predictions. But it appears the appeal is focusing on the scope of the charges and whether or not the ceremonial event actually constitutes an official proceeding under the law. The state is charging under statute §1512 which describes the crime as obstructing an adjudicative proceeding involving witness testimony and evidence. The law is actually part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed after the congressional investigations into Enron and other financial scandals. From what I can gather, the argument will be that the statute is designed to be similar to obstructing justice (regarding a criminal or civil proceeding) but only as it pertains to congressional investigations and hearings.

There are some other points that the appeal, such as a vagueness to the statute, no evidence of corrupt intent, and a lack of consistency over the use of the statute. We'll see if any of that is considered by the high court, but I guess every valid issue brought up can move that needle a little closer, especially on a judgement call. Perhaps if not legally, but just as a matter of argument.

Lastly, because of this appeal, the Jan 6th case against the President could be delayed until the court makes a ruling on the validity of events. The entire Smith charge is tied to the idea that the very existence of a protest that ended up entering the capital is a federal crime that should be blamed on Trump. Again, that seems to be the early concensus on this, but still waiting for the experts to fully wade in to see how much true effect it would have on the Trump prosecution.