During his first major speech of the year, President Joe Biden spent much of his time talking about the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill.

Yet while Biden boasted about the number of participants that have been locked up, many legal experts think the Supreme Court is poised to let some of them out. 

Large number of January 6 defendants were charged  under "Enron-era" law

That's according to Epoch Times contributor Matthew Vadum, who noted that January 6 defendants were often charged with obstruction of an official proceeding.

Vadum pointed out that those charges stem from what he described as "an Enron-era" law formally known as 18 U.S. Code Section 1512(c).

It criminalizes anyone who "alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding."

Also covered is anyone who "otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so." The violations are punishable by up to 20 years behind bars.

Appellants argue that law was intended to cover corporate crime

Among those to be prosecuted under the statute are Joseph Fischer, Edward Lang, and Garret Miller, all of whom say that their actions were not what the law was intended to cover.

They maintain that the law is being misapplied, as was enacted following the Enron scandal, and intended to cover white-collar corporate fraud schemes.

In response, the nation's highest judicial body announced midway through last month that it would take up the defendants' case.

Vadum wrote that the Times has consulted with attorneys who say that there is a good chance the Supreme Court will rule in their favor.

Supreme Court could upend Trump's criminal case in Washington D.C.

Meanwhile, Newsweek reported last month that a ruling by the Supreme Court for Fischer, Lang, and Miller could have major implications for former President Donald in his Washington D.C. criminal case.

Trump was indicted last year by Special Counsel Jack Smith on one charge of obstruction of an official proceeding as well as an additional charge of attempting to obstruct an official proceeding.

Supreme Court gives Donald Trump new ammunition in Jack Smith case https://t.co/DQptV9KEUv

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) December 19, 2023

However, Newsweek acknowledged that even if those two charges are ultimately thrown out, the former president must still contend with charges of conspiracy against rights and conspiracy to defraud the United States.