A former senior Justice Department official under the Trump administration could face disbarment as he prepares for a multiday hearing before a Washington, D.C., legal ethics panel starting Tuesday over his alleged bid to undo the 2020 election results.
Jeffrey Clark, 56, worked as the acting head of the DOJ’s Civil Division under former President Donald Trump and faces ethics charges accusing him of attempting to “engage in conduct involving dishonesty” and attempting actions “that would seriously interfere with the administration of justice,” according to a petition filed by the District of Columbia Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
Clark, who is also a co-defendant alongside Trump in the sweeping racketeering case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, said during an interview with the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank founded by Russell Vought, that the hearing is an “attempt to try to destroy me.”
“This wild lawfare effort is the attempt to disbar me … so that if President Trump does return to the White House, that I’ve been possibly returned to the Department of Justice to help him there and to help the country from there,” Clark said.
The hearing will be before a three-member committee of the Board on Professional Responsibility, which is an arm of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The result of the hearing could be the suspension or revocation of his license to practice law, which would be determined in a final action by the appeals court.
Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee challenging President Joe Biden for the presidency. The former president faces criminal charges in Georgia and in a federal court in Washington over his alleged attempt to subvert his 2020 loss to Biden, as well as two other unrelated criminal cases.
Clark has pleaded not guilty to his charges in Georgia, while Trump has maintained his innocence in both election cases. The former DOJ official is also listed as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the federal case, and the ethics panel is expected to look into relevant actions from both of those cases.
In addition to accusations of interfering with the administration of justice, Clark is also accused of making false statements about the 2020 election in a draft letter he asked the then-acting attorney general to send promoting claims of widespread election fraud.
Trump attempted to place Clark in charge of the DOJ during his final days in office as he pushed a narrative of the 2020 election being rife with voter fraud.
The former DOJ official was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee in October 2021 for his testimony and records to provide a clearer picture of actions taken by the DOJ. Clark declined to cooperate, leading to a contempt of Congress charge issued in December.
The hearing is set to feature testimony from two of Clark’s DOJ superiors, former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, who have cooperated with the ethics investigation.
Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who is also a co-defendant in the Fulton County case, may testify on Clark’s behalf, along with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), attorneys for the former DOJ official told Reuters.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Other ethics cases are being pursued in the nation’s capital against Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former attorney, and three other attorneys involved in alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
In November, a California judge overseeing attorney and Trump ally John Eastman’s disbarment proceedings issued a “preliminary finding” that he violated professional ethics by helping Trump’s alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election.