By Josh Gerstein
POLITICO
November 24, 2021
Could former President Donald Trump be charged with a crime for urging then-Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the electoral vote tally?
That appeared to be the thrust of a question U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols posed on Monday at a court hearing for one of the hundreds of Americans charged in the Capitol riot.
The judge and both sides in the case found themselves debating the scope of a law being wielded against many Jan. 6 defendants that makes it a felony to “corruptly” interfere with an official federal government proceeding and carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.