Legal Two-Year License Suspension Recommended for Jeff Clark

Jeffrey Clark, the former Department of Justice (DOJ) official who was a central figure in former President Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election, should face a two-year suspension, a disciplinary committee said Thursday.

Clark was charged with attempted dishonesty and gross interference with the administration of justice in connection with the Georgia election results. He attempted to send a letter to Georgia officials after the election, urging the state to interfere with results showing Trump’s defeat.

The commission wrote in a 213-page file that Clark, an environmental lawyer, attempted dishonesty and did so “with truly extraordinary recklessness.”

“In the 11th hour of the Trump administration, he sought to assume responsibility for investigations into election matters and relying on what was, at best, a fraction of the information that any reasonable lawyer would expect to act on,” the committee said.

Earlier this year, the Washington, D.C. Bar Association’s three-member accountability panel concluded that Clark likely violated at least one ethics rule in his efforts.

Clark’s draft “Proof of Concept” letter falsely claimed that the DOJ had found problems that may have impacted the election results in Georgia. Clark sent the letter to senior DOJ officials, who refused to authorize it.

The committee said Thursday that even Trump said no to Clark.

Clark, who spoke out in his defense during the disciplinary trial, was sincere in his belief that sending the letter was the right thing to do, the committee said.

Still, the disciplinary committee argued that Clark’s “sincerity of belief does not make him any less reckless.”

“We believe that a two-year suspension from the practice of law with the requirement to demonstrate fitness for reinstatement is an appropriate sanction for what has been charged and proven,” they wrote.

The disciplinary board that brought the case against Clark sought more severe sanctions, such as expulsion. Clark and his team were looking for a way for him not to be disciplined.

If the committee’s two-year suspension recommendation is still in the early stages, it would be less severe than being completely revoked, as other lawyers who worked with Trump in 2020 may face.

In an affirmation, Clark’s legal team said the committee’s decision is “illegal for many reasons.” They argue it should be thrown out after the Supreme Court ruled in Trump’s favor in the immunity case last month.

“In fact, the recommendation is a scandalous power grab that began as a partisan political complaint from Senator Dick Durbin. This case should never have been brought; violates the separation of powers,” said the statement, posted on the Center for Renewing America’s X social media page.

The legal team said Clark is an excellent lawyer who served his country honorably. Clark had a duty to give Trump his best advice, they said.

“The recommendation currently has no legal effect. We will make several appeals to keep it that way,” the statement said. “Mr. Clark should have been declared immune from the Bar Association’s political frame-up launched against him and we are confident that Mr. Clark will be fully vindicated.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story