Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Jun 11

US Supreme Court Voids Ex-Twitter Employee's Obstruction Conviction, Leaving 3 Other Counts Intact

Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Jun 11

US Supreme Court Voids Ex-Twitter Employee's Obstruction Conviction, Leaving 3 Other Counts Intact

Q: A spy’s conviction was overturned on a technicality. What fate awaits him for his remaining serious charges?

Abouammo’s legal exposure is not over: only the obstruction count was thrown out, while his other major convictions remain in place unless a separate appeal succeeds. The Supreme Court’s ruling was narrow. It said prosecutors brought the falsifying-records charge in the wrong district, because the fake invoice was created in Seattle, not California. That means the obstruction conviction is vacated on venue grounds and could be retried in the Western District of Washington if federal prosecutors choose. But the decision did not disturb his other convictions, including acting as an unregistered foreign agent and wire and honest-services fraud tied to allegations that he passed confidential Twitter user data to a Saudi official in exchange for gifts and money. Those counts still stand. In practical terms, his fate on the remaining serious charges depends on the separate appellate process, not on the Supreme Court’s venue ruling. Unless another court overturns those convictions, he remains convicted on them. He had already been resentenced to time served and was released in June 2025 while his appeal was pending, so the immediate question is less about returning to prison now than whether the remaining convictions and any associated supervision or collateral consequences survive further review. So the likely outcome is this: the obstruction charge may be retried in Seattle, but his more serious foreign-agent and fraud convictions continue to stand for now.

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 11

A unanimous Supreme Court ruling threw out Ahmad Abouammo’s 2022 obstruction conviction, finding prosecutors brought the charge in California even though the alleged falsified document was created in Seattle.
Justice Elena Kagan wrote that falsifying a document to impede an investigation must be tried where the document was falsified, making the proper venue Washington state’s western district.
The decision leaves Abouammo’s other convictions untouched, including acting as an unregistered foreign agent and fraud; he was sentenced to 3.5 years and released in June 2025 while appealing.
Prosecutors said the former Twitter manager gave a Saudi official confidential data on two dissidents in exchange for a $42,000 watch and two $100,000 wire transfers, then emailed FBI agents a fake invoice to back his explanation.