(a)As used in sections
1512 and
1513 of this title and in this section—
(1)the term “official proceeding” means—
(A)a proceeding before a judge or court of the United States, a United States magistrate judge, a bankruptcy judge, a judge of the United States Tax Court, a special trial judge of the Tax Court, a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims, or a Federal grand jury;
(B)a proceeding before the Congress;
(C)a proceeding before a Federal Government agency which is authorized by law; or
(D)a proceeding involving the business of insurance whose activities affect interstate commerce before any insurance regulatory official or agency or any agent or examiner appointed by such official or agency to examine the affairs of any person engaged in the business of insurance whose activities affect interstate commerce;
(2)the term “physical force” means physical action against another, and includes confinement;
(3)the term “misleading conduct” means—
(A)knowingly making a false statement;
(B)intentionally omitting information from a statement and thereby causing a portion of such statement to be misleading, or intentionally concealing a material fact, and thereby creating a false impression by such statement;
(C)with intent to mislead, knowingly submitting or inviting reliance on a writing or recording that is false, forged, altered, or otherwise lacking in authenticity;
(D)with intent to mislead, knowingly submitting or inviting reliance on a sample, specimen, map, photograph, boundary mark, or other object that is misleading in a material respect; or
(E)knowingly using a trick, scheme, or device with intent to mislead;
(4)the term “law enforcement officer” means an officer or employee of the Federal Government, or a person authorized to act for or on behalf of the Federal Government or serving the Federal Government as an adviser or consultant—
(A)authorized under law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of an offense; or
(B)serving as a probation or pretrial services officer under this title;
(5)the term “bodily injury” means—
(A)a cut, abrasion, bruise, burn, or disfigurement;
(B)physical pain;
(C)illness;
(D)impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; or
(E)any other injury to the body, no matter how temporary; and
(6)the term “corruptly persuades” does not include conduct which would be misleading conduct but for a lack of a state of mind.
(b)As used in section
1505, the term “corruptly” means acting with an improper purpose, personally or by influencing another, including making a false or misleading statement, or withholding, concealing, altering, or destroying a document or other information.
(c)This chapter does not prohibit or punish the providing of lawful, bona fide, legal representation services in connection with or anticipation of an official proceeding.
(a)As used in sections
1512 and
1513 of this title and in this section—
(1)the term “official proceeding” means—
(A)a proceeding before a judge or court of the United States, a United States magistrate judge, a bankruptcy judge, a judge of the United States Tax Court, a special trial judge of the Tax Court, a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims, or a Federal grand jury;
(B)a proceeding before the Congress;
(C)a proceeding before a Federal Government agency which is authorized by law; or
(D)a proceeding involving the business of insurance whose activities affect interstate commerce before any insurance regulatory official or agency or any agent or examiner appointed by such official or agency to examine the affairs of any person engaged in the business of insurance whose activities affect interstate commerce;
(2)the term “physical force” means physical action against another, and includes confinement;
(3)the term “misleading conduct” means—
(A)knowingly making a false statement;
(B)intentionally omitting information from a statement and thereby causing a portion of such statement to be misleading, or intentionally concealing a material fact, and thereby creating a false impression by such statement;
(C)with intent to mislead, knowingly submitting or inviting reliance on a writing or recording that is false, forged, altered, or otherwise lacking in authenticity;
(D)with intent to mislead, knowingly submitting or inviting reliance on a sample, specimen, map, photograph, boundary mark, or other object that is misleading in a material respect; or
(E)knowingly using a trick, scheme, or device with intent to mislead;
(4)the term “law enforcement officer” means an officer or employee of the Federal Government, or a person authorized to act for or on behalf of the Federal Government or serving the Federal Government as an adviser or consultant—
(A)authorized under law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of an offense; or
(B)serving as a probation or pretrial services officer under this title;
(5)the term “bodily injury” means—
(A)a cut, abrasion, bruise, burn, or disfigurement;
(B)physical pain;
(C)illness;
(D)impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; or
(E)any other injury to the body, no matter how temporary; and
(6)the term “corruptly persuades” does not include conduct which would be misleading conduct but for a lack of a state of mind.
(b)As used in section
1505, the term “corruptly” means acting with an improper purpose, personally or by influencing another, including making a false or misleading statement, or withholding, concealing, altering, or destroying a document or other information.
(c)This chapter does not prohibit or punish the providing of lawful, bona fide, legal representation services in connection with or anticipation of an official proceeding.
1992—Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 102–572substituted “United States Court of Federal Claims” for “United States Claims Court”.
1988—Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 100–690, § 7029(b), inserted “a judge of the United States Tax Court, a special trial judge of the Tax Court, a judge of the United States Claims Court,” after “bankruptcy judge,”.
1986—Pub. L. 99–646inserted “; general provision” in section catchline, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), and added subsec. (b).
Change of Name
“United States magistrate judge” substituted for “United States magistrate” in subsec. (a)(1)(A) pursuant to section 321 ofPub. L. 101–650, set out as a note under section
631 of Title
28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Effective Date of 1996 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 104–294effective Sept. 13, 1994, see section 604(d) ofPub. L. 104–294, set out as a note under section
13 of this title.
Effective Date of 1992 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 102–572effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 911 ofPub. L. 102–572, set out as a note under section
171 of Title
28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Effective Date
Section effective Oct. 12, 1982, see section 9(a) ofPub. L. 97–291, set out as a note under section
1512 of this title.
The table below lists the classification updates, since Jan. 3, 2012, for this section. Updates to a broader range of sections may be found at the update page for containing chapter, title, etc.
The most recent Classification Table update that we have noticed was Friday, May 3, 2013
An empty table indicates that we see no relevant changes listed in the classification tables. If you suspect that our system may be missing something, please double-check with the Office of the Law Revision Counsel.
18 USC
Description of Change
Session Year
Public Law
Statutes at Large
This is a list of parts within the Code of Federal Regulations for which this US Code section provides rulemaking authority.
It is not guaranteed to be accurate or up-to-date, though we do refresh the database weekly. More limitations on accuracy are described at the GPO site.
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.