A disciplinary committee announced Thursday that former Department of Justice (DOJ) official Jeffrey Clark, a central figure in former President Trump’s plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election, should be suspended for two years.
Clark was charged with attempted fraud and serious interference with justice in connection with Georgia’s election results after he sent letters to Georgia officials after the election, seeking to have the state interfere with the results that showed Trump lost.
The Committee 213 page document Mr Clark, an environmental lawyer, attempted fraud and did so with “really extraordinary recklessness”.
“In the final days of the Trump Administration’s inauguration, he attempted to take over responsibility for investigating election matters, but at best relied on only a fraction of the information that any decent lawyer would expect to take action on,” the committee said.
Earlier this year, the D.C. Bar Association’s three-person Accountability Committee determined that Clark likely violated at least one code of ethics in his activities.
Clark’s “proof of concept” draft letter falsely claimed the Department of Justice had found problems that could have influenced the outcome of Georgia’s election. Clark sent the letter to senior Department of Justice officials, who declined to endorse it.
The committee said Thursday that even Trump told Clarke no.
Clark, who gave evidence for the defence at the disciplinary trial, was in good faith when he believed sending the letter was the right thing to do, the commission said.
Still, the disciplinary committee argued that Clark’s “sincerity in his beliefs does not mitigate his recklessness.”
“We believe that a two-year suspension from the practice of law, subject to a showing of eligibility for reemployment, is an appropriate sanction for what has been alleged and proven,” they wrote.
Disciplinary counsel who filed the case against Clark sought harsher sanctions, such as disbarment. Clark and his team were exploring ways to avoid disciplining him.
The committee’s recommendation for a two-year suspension is still in the early stages, but it would likely be lighter than the full suspension that other lawyers who worked with Trump in 2020 could face.
in statementClark’s lawyers said the commission’s decision was “unlawful in many respects.” They argue it should be overturned because the Supreme Court ruled in Trump’s favor in an immunity case last month.
“Indeed, this recommendation is an outrageous power grab that began with a partisan political grievance by Senator Dick Durbin. This lawsuit should never have been filed and violates the separation of powers,” said a statement posted to the Center for American Renewal’s X social media page.
The lawyers said Clark was a brilliant lawyer who had served his country honorably and that he had a duty to give Trump the best possible advice.
“This recommendation currently has no legal effect and we will appeal multiple times to maintain this status,” the statement said. “Mr. Clark should be exonerated from the political weaponization waged against him by the Bar Association and we are confident that Mr. Clark will be fully exonerated.”
