18 U.S.C. § 1515
Section 1515 · Definitions for certain provisions; general provision
Amended 7 times on record
Applied in 154 court decisions — leading case United States v. Kulczyk (1991)
Most recently applied in United States v. Mangano (February 2025)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 18 U.S.C. § 1512 · 18 U.S.C. § 1503 · 18 U.S.C. § 1513
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(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, 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.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1996—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 104–294 struck out “or” after semicolon at end.
Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 104–292 added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c).
1994—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 103–322 added subpar. (D).
1992—Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 102–572 substituted “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,”.
Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 100–690, §7029(d), added par. (6).
1986—Pub. L. 99–646 inserted “; general provision” in section catchline, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), and added subsec. (b).
Change of Name
Reference to United States magistrate or to magistrate deemed to refer to United States magistrate judge pursuant to section 321 of Pub. 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. 104–294 effective Sept. 13, 1994, see section 604(d) of Pub. L. 104–294, set out as a note under section 13 of this title.
Effective Date of 1992 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 102–572 effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 911 of Pub. 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) of Pub. L. 97–291, set out as a note under section 1512 of this title.