And it’s not just the fake elector scheme
We knew they were investigating the fake electors scheme and that’s very serious. (Some even call it “election fraud.”) But this suggests there’s more to it. To the best of my knowledge Clark was not involved in that:
Federal investigators descended on the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official, on Wednesday in connection with the department’s sprawling inquiry into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to people familiar with the matter.
It remained unclear exactly what the investigators may have been looking for, but Mr. Clark was central to President Donald J. Trump’s unsuccessful effort in late 2020 to strong-arm the nation’s top prosecutors into supporting his claims of election fraud.
The law enforcement action at Mr. Clark’s home in suburban Virginia came just one day before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was poised to hold a hearing examining Mr. Trump’s efforts to pressure the Justice Department after his election defeat.
The hearing was expected to explore Mr. Clark’s role in helping Mr. Trump bend the department to his will and ultimately help in a bid to persuade officials in several key swing states to change the outcome of their election results.
Mr. Trump considered and then abandoned a plan in the days just before the Jan. 6 attack to put Mr. Clark in charge of the Justice Department as acting attorney general. At the time, Mr. Clark was proposing to send a letter to state officials in Georgia falsely stating that the department had evidence that could lead Georgia to rescind its certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory in that key swing state.
We’re going to hear much more about Clark in the hearing today. We know he took the 5th in his testimony before the committee. I don’t know specifically what crimes he is suspected of committing but apparently he isn’t the only one who thinks he’s culpable.
Here’s the story on Clark if you’re unfamiliar with the details.
Update—
Katie Benner of the NY Times knows this story inside and out. Here’s her twitter thread from this morning:
There’s a misconception that Jeffrey Clark was a low-level DOJ guy when he sought to become AG & undo the election. He was an environmental lawyer, but one who ran the ENRD, a Senate confirmed leadership role. He also ran Civil, the division that defends the admin in court.
In his testimony before the Senate Judiciary committee, Rich Donoghue, DOJ’s former #2 official, says that in the heat of the fight over who would lead DOJ, he disparages Clark by telling him he’s an environmental lawyer who should wait in his office for an oil spill.
It’s an incredible moment and one that tells us a lot about Donoghue and his regard for Clark. But Clark’s own position at DOJ shouldn’t be underplayed. He was in an important leadership role, which makes his work to undermine the electoral college all the more noteworthy
He had access to top DOJ officials, who explicitly told him that there was no voter fraud. He secretly arranged for briefings from intel officials, who also told him that there was not voter fraud. A low level guy prob wouldn’t have that access to intelligence.
Despite his position and access to information, Clark still wanted DOJ to send a letter to Georgia officials falsely stating that the dept had concerns about the results. One open question: did Clark truly believed that Trump won, and no amount of true information mattered
If that’s the case, I find it very striking that Clark was a high level DOJ official — who had served under Bush and was not thought to be radical in any way — and not some low level guy who was brought into the DOJ with no vetting.
Clark is in keeping with candidates in the upcoming election – at all levels of state govt – who also believe that Trump won. Clark failed to ultimately operate the levers of govt that could undo an election. His allies running for office in local races could win.
(@reidepstein has written well about election deniers on the ballot)
So yes, Clark may now seem like a buffoon bc he was humiliated. But he could be the first of many officials willing to ignore evidence as they vie for power over our election outcomesOriginally tweeted by Katie Benner (@ktbenner) on June 23, 2022.
Update: I was wrong. Clark was involved in the fake elector scheme and seems to have been conspiring with Eastman with his proposed letter to the states saying that the DOJ was investigating the election.