Former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker (R) said the Supreme Court was “absolutely right” to block the Department of Justice (DOJ) from charging the January 6 protesters with obstruction.
Whitaker, who served as former President Trump’s acting AG for three months in 2018 after Jeff Sessions stepped down at the president’s request, said he saw the Jan. 6 obstruction charges as DOJ overreach.
“I think the Supreme Court was absolutely right and that the Department of Justice has been really overly aggressive in trying to pile every possible charge into these cases,” he said during a briefing. Fox News appearance on Saturday.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday that the DOJ could no longer use the loophole left by an Enron accounting scandal-era law to charge Jan. 6 protesters with obstruction. The law made it a crime to obstruct, impede, or “corruptly” interfere with official congressional inquiries and investigations.
The justices did not rule along ideological lines, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson joining the conservatives in concurring and Justice Amy Coney Barret dissenting from the two remaining liberal justices.
In her dissent, Barrett criticized the fact that Congress likely did not have a riot in mind when it wrote the filibuster law.
“Who could blame Congress for this lack of imagination?” she said.
The effects of the decision will vary, but for defendants who have not yet been convicted on obstruction charges, the DOJ will not be able to defend the case.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has said publicly that he will comply, but he is disappointed.
Approximately 350 defendants have been charged with obstruction, and most of the accused protesters face other criminal charges. Notable defendants who have been charged with obstruction include the respective leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes. Trump is also included in the ranks of these defendants.
Trump’s case is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
“Two of his four charges are these charges,” Whitaker said. “I think they’re going to have to drop those two charges for sure.”
“Jack Smith will have to rethink how he charges this case.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
