Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-5572_l6hn.pdf
Page Number: 5

Cite as:  603 U. S. ____ (2024) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to  notify  the  Reporter  of 
Decisions,  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  Washington,  D. C.  20543, 
pio@supremecourt.gov, of any typographical or other formal errors. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 23–5572 
_________________ 

JOSEPH W. FISCHER, PETITIONER v. 
UNITED STATES 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT 

[June 28, 2024] 

CHIEF  JUSTICE  ROBERTS  delivered  the  opinion  of  the 

Court. 

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 imposes criminal liabil-
ity on anyone who corruptly “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.”    18  U. S. C. 
§1512(c)(1).  The next subsection extends that prohibition
to anyone who “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes
any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”  §1512(c)(2).
We consider whether this “otherwise” clause should be read 
in  light  of  the  limited  reach  of  the  specific  provision  that 
precedes it. 

I 

This  case  concerns  the  prosecution  of  petitioner  Joseph 
Fischer for his conduct on January 6, 2021.  That day, both
Houses of Congress convened in a joint session to certify the 
votes in the 2020 Presidential election.  While they did so, 
a  crowd  of  supporters  of  then-President  Donald  Trump
gathered outside the Capitol.  As set forth in the criminal 
complaint  against  Fischer,  some  of  the  crowd  eventually