Witness Tampering and Obstruction (18 U.S.C. § 1512)
Prohibits tampering with witnesses, victims, or informants, and obstruction of official proceedings.
Key Provisions
§ 1512(a): Killing or attempting to kill a witness — severe penalties
§ 1512(b): Knowingly using intimidation, threats, or corrupt persuasion, or engaging in misleading conduct, toward any person with intent to:
- (1) Influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding
- (2) Cause or induce any person to destroy/withhold evidence or be absent from a proceeding
- (3) Hinder, delay, or prevent communication with law enforcement
§ 1512(c): Obstruction of official proceedings — knowingly corruptly:
- (1) Alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals a record/document with intent to impair its use in an official proceeding; or
- (2) Otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding (the broad “catch-all”)
§ 1512(d): Intentionally harassing another person to hinder testimony
§ 1512(c)(2) — Broad Catch-All
The “otherwise obstructs” language has been widely applied to reach conduct beyond document destruction:
- Used to charge January 6th Capitol defendants for obstruction of the joint session of Congress (Fischer v. United States, 2024 — SCOTUS held § 1512(c)(2) requires nexus to evidence impairment; “otherwise obstructs” applies only to evidence-related obstruction)
- Also used in fraud and corruption prosecutions
No Pending Proceeding Required
Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States (2005): Conviction must show defendant acted “knowingly … corruptly” — jury instruction requiring only knowledge of potential proceeding was insufficient. Requires corrupt intent directed at specific official proceeding.