D.C. Oversight Board Recommends Jeffrey Clark Should Be Disbarred

The D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility recommended that Jeffrey Clark should be disbarred for his role in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Clark is currently the acting head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget. He was formerly an Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice. As such, he wrote a letter for the DOJ to send to lawmakers in specific states such as Georgia saying that “various irregularities” were under investigation and claiming the DOJ had “significant concerns” about the election there.

The oversight board found that Clark made “intentionally false statements” and continued to push for the letter to be sent after his superiors refused to send it on the grounds that it included false content:

Lawyers cannot advocate for any outcome based on false statements and they certainly cannot urge others to do so. Respondent persistently and energetically sought to do just that on an important national issue. He should be disbarred as a consequence and to send a message to the rest of the Bar and to the public that this behavior will not be tolerated.

On 3 January 2021, in the midst of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, in a heated White House meeting Trump wanted to appoint Clark as Acting Attorney General but backed off after several officials in the meeting said they would resign if he did so.

The D.C. Court of Appeals will make a final decision about whether Clark should be stripped of his license to practice law.

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