Criminal contempt vote set for ex-Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark

[ad_1]

Jeff Clark, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, speaks at a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, September 14, 2020.

Facebook Facebook logo Sign up for Facebook to connect with Susan Walsh AFP | Getty Images

The panel of lawmakers investigating the deadly unrest at the Capitol said Monday they will meet this week to vote on whether the House should hold former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark in defiance of Congress and release of a criminal referral for his prosecution.

Clark was the second Donald Trump associate to face contempt proceedings that stemmed from the House select committee probe on Jan. 6, when hundreds of supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol and forced Congress to flee their chambers.

Politics of CNBC

Read more coverage on CNBC’s politics:

The select committee in October voted to recommend Steve Bannon, former senior White House advisor to Trump, for contempt for his refusal to comply with its subpoena for documents and testimony. Bannon’s lawyer justified the non-compliance by pointing to Trump’s statements that parts of the subpoena are protected by executive privilege.

The entire House then voted to contempt Bannon and send a referral to federal prosecutors. A federal grand jury indicted Bannon in mid -November on two counts of contempt in Congress. He was not guilty.

The select committee accused Clark, the former acting assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s civil division, of refusing to answer questions about Trump’s efforts to use law enforcement agency to overthrow Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory. election.

The committee, which heavily cited the Senate Judiciary Committee’s report, said it discovered “credible evidence” that Clark tried to involve the DOJ “in efforts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.”

After losing to Biden, Trump spent months falsely claiming he won the election and spreading a range of baseless conspiracy theories about voter fraud. Trump’s campaign and other allies have filed dozens of unsuccessful lawsuits aimed at undermining Biden’s state victories.

In December 2020, Clark proposed that the DOJ send letters to the several swing states that Biden won, urging them to consider changing their records of presidential electors based on “sworn evidence of election irregularities. , ”the Senate report shows.

The draft letters suggested that the legislatures of those states meet in special sessions to “take any action necessary” if the “election fails to make a proper and proper choice,” according to the Senate report. .

After Clark allegedly refused to cooperate with the deposition of the select committee, Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Issued a blistering statement calling it “surprising” that Clark would “hide behind the vague that claims of privilege “by Trump and” continue to attack the rule of law. “

As it did for Bannon, the committee said in a press release that it will meet Wednesday at 7 pm ET on Capitol Hill for a “business meeting” to vote on a defiance report for Clark.

That report included language recommending that the House cite Clark “for criminal contempt of Congress” and refer him to the U.S. attorney’s office for Washington for prosecution.

The committee has issued dozens of subpoenas to Trump’s current and former colleagues, including his White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, his former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones .

The panel threatened to advance criminal contempt proceedings for Meadows, who refused to comply with his subpoena.

This is breaking news. Please come back for updates.

[ad_2]