The defendants in enron were being investigated, so they destroyed evidence and performed actions making it harder to get to the truth about their crime. In other words, they already were suspects and they were attempting to destroy evidence.
The protesters on j6 were not under investigation when they visited the capitol. They were not attempting corruptly to destroy evidence about their crime. There was no crime committed that they were intentionally trying to conceal.
Enron criminals knew they’d done something wrong and their destruction of evidence was to hide it. J6 protesters were not already participants in a crime they were seeking to conceal. In fact, they were not trying to conceal anything. There’s hours and hours on camera of them protesting.
They did not violate this law. It is not an anti-protester law. If it is, then it is unconstitutional since protest is protected activity.
Title 18 Section 1512(c), which reads:
“Whoever corruptly— (1) 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; or (2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.”
Great points!!