On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN NewsNight,” host Abby Phillip reacted to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch asking if the obstruction of an official proceeding charge the federal government is using against Joseph Fischer over January 6 would apply to someone who pulled a fire alarm before a vote — like Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) did — by stating that fire alarms “might be an impediment, but it is not an insurrection.”
Phillip began the segment by saying, “Tonight, is the Supreme Court about to let hundreds of insurrectionists off the hook?”
She added that the obstruction of an official proceeding statute was “meant to collar white-collar criminals. It was originally designed to stop the smartest criminals in the room at Enron and other companies like it from destroying evidence.”
Phillip further stated, “Now, the conservatives didn’t go hook, line, and sinker for Fischer’s arguments, but their questions of the government suggest that insurrectionists are going to get a pass, or at least dramatically reduced criminal exposure, questions like these from Neil Gorsuch, a Trump pick to the bench, about what else might fall under the law.”
She then played audio of Gorsuch asking if a sit-in that disrupted a trial or access to a federal courthouse, a heckler at Supreme Court arguments or the State of the Union, or pulling a fire alarm before a vote would qualify as a violation of the statute.
Phillip then responded, “Sit-ins, hecklers, fire alarms, they might be an impediment, but it is not an insurrection. … It’s hard to see how anyone can argue that the intent here was not to obstruct a constitutionally important official proceeding. But the court’s conservatives seem ready to do just that.”
She then played audio of Justice Samuel Alito asking if people who blocked traffic, like many people did on Monday, but did so around the Capitol so that members of Congress couldn’t get to a hearing, Justice Amy Coney Barrett asking what the government’s approach would be if the Capitol wasn’t breached on January 6, Justice Clarence Thomas asking if other violent protests that have interfered with government proceedings have resulted in the same charges being brought, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh asking if the other counts in the indictment are enough.
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