I'm John Dachshoo with Professor Richard Epstein, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution

teaches law at NYU and the University of Chicago. The formal name for the obstruction charge is 18

USC 1512 c2 making it a crime to corruptly obstruct impede impede, or interfere with any official government proceeding.

Why this is important now is the Supreme Court will render a decision as to whether the January

6th events describe obstruction of an official proceeding

that would be the Electoral College inside the building or is this an aspect of

the right to assemble?

Did they not obstruct at all?

It turns on those who have been charged with felonies

for invading the capital on January 6th.

But two of the four charges against former President Trump,

brought by Jack Smith the Special Council, involved just the same charge of obstruction.

So I come to you, Professor, about when is it obstruction and when is it the right to

assemble the Supreme Court will give us a decision later this year.

I think in effect that it's a very close case.

There's certainly no way to take the three possibilities

that you can get a conviction without having a jury trial.

There's just too much evidence and too much chaff

around for somebody to say, well, you just look at it and it's obviously obstruction.

There are too many people there, there are too many charges made against too many individuals,

and it gets even more complicated because Trump, even though it

behaved like a fool when he decided to watch the thing on television but not to call

...