Capitol Breach Committee Schedules Vote on Contempt Charge Against Former Trump DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark

Capitol Breach Committee Schedules Vote on Contempt Charge Against Former Trump DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark
A file image of Jeff Clark, the then assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, taken during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Sept. 14, 2020. (Susan Walsh, Pool/AP Photo)
Ivan Pentchoukov
11/29/2021
Updated:
11/30/2021

The Democrat-led U.S. House Jan. 6 committee on Monday scheduled a Wednesday vote to hold former Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark in contempt of Congress.

“The Select Committee will vote on a report recommending that the House of Representatives cite Jeffrey Clark for criminal contempt of Congress and refer him for prosecution,” the committee said in a Twitter message about the vote scheduled for 7 p.m. on Dec. 1.

The Epoch Times requested a comment from Clark.

The vote will take place less than three weeks after the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted former Trump advisor Stephen Bannon on two contempt-of-Congress charges recommended by the same committee.

Bannon pleaded not guilty.

The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, which was created and is run by House Democrats, has issued subpoenas to a long list of former officials and associates of former President Donald Trump.

Clark served as the acting assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Division during the post-election period in 2020.

According to an October report (pdf) by the Democrat-led Senate Judiciary Committee, Clark had proposed a plan on Dec. 28, 2020, for the DOJ to announce an investigation into voting irregularities in Georgia and to recommend that the state’s legislature convene a special session to consider an alternate slate of electors.

Clark’s draft letter which outlines the proposal suggested that the same plan be carried out for each of the states in which Trump had challenged the election outcome: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada.

Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue rejected Clark’s plan.

“There is no chance that I would sign this letter or anything remotely like this,” Donoghue wrote.

Clark appeared before the Jan. 6 committee on Nov. 5 but did not cooperate, according to committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.)

“His refusal to answer questions about the former President’s attempt to use the Department of Justice to overturn the election is in direct contrast to his supervisors at the Department, who have come in and answered the committee’s questions on these important topics,” Thompson said on Nov. 5.

Clark continued to push his plan after the rejection by Rosen and Donoghue, according to the Senate report. Clark eventually told Rosen that Trump had proposed firing Rosen and appointing Clark as the acting attorney general, the report said. This series of events culminated in a White House meeting during which Rosen and Donoghue told Trump that senior DOJ officials would resign if Trump carried out his plan, according to the report.

Congress went on to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. The certification session was interrupted when Trump supporters breached the Capitol. A Capitol police officer shot and killed one supporter before the crowd was cleared out.

Ivan is the national editor of The Epoch Times. He has reported for The Epoch Times on a variety of topics since 2011.
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