January 6 Committee Votes to Hold Former DOJ Attorney Jeffrey Clark In Contempt Of Congress

Update to Former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Clark Provided A Roadmap To A Coup D’etat. Former acting Attorney General of the Civil Division, Jeffrey Clark, a QAnon cultist Trump sycophant, drafted a letter that was a roadmap to Trump’s coup d’etat plot. Donald Trump contemplated replacing acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with Clark, who was more sympathetic to his efforts to overturn the election results.

Clark was working closely with John Eastman, a conservative think tank lawyer working with Donald Trump’s legal team, who wrote two memorandums described as an instruction manual for a coup d’état; specifically, a self-coup. He may also have been working closely with Donald Trump’s campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis, who wrote a detailed memorandum how to stop the certification of the electoral college vote on January 6, which closely tracked what Eastman laid out in his longer Jan. 3 memo.

What this describes is a criminal seditious conspiracy 18 U.S. Code § 2384 – Seditious conspiracy.

This coup plotter Jeffrey Clark appeared for his deposition on Nov. 5, but did not answer “pertinent questions” and ultimately, he and his lawyer left, according to a committee statement. They were asked by the committee to return later in the afternoon, but did not.  Clark asserted that he is professionally constrained from publicly defending himself, averring that his discussions with the president were “a privileged conversation.” What privilege exactly? Just Security Blog breaks it down, Is Jeffrey Clark’s Secret Conversation With Trump “Privileged”?

Clark’s lawyer, Harry MacDougald, has said his client would not comply with the subpoena, asserting executive privilege claimed by former President Donald Trump. NPR reports:

His attorney claimed Trump directed him not to cooperate in a letter, which was attached to a series of immunity claims shared with the panel. However, the committee disagreed, arguing Trump in fact greenlighted Clark’s testimony in that same Aug. 2 letter — sent on Trump’s behalf by attorney and former Georgia Republican Rep. Doug Collins.

MacDougald also confirmed he and his client were in receipt of a July letter from the Justice Department indicating that executive privilege does not apply to his immunity claims.

So Clark does not have a legal leg to stand on. He is simply obstructing Congress because he has legal culpability for a criminal seditious conspiracy. He is stonewalling.

On Wednesday, the House Jan. 6 committee votes to hold former Trump DOJ official in criminal contempt:

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously Wednesday to hold former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark in criminal contempt for failing to cooperate with its inquiry.

It is unclear when the full House could take up the contempt resolution, but if it is adopted, it would be up to the Justice Department to determine whether it wants to indict Clark for not complying with a congressional subpoena.

Clark, however, has one more opportunity to appear in front of the committee on Saturday for a new deposition. Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) said during the hearing that Clark informed the committee he “now intends to claim Fifth Amendment protection,” and that the panel is “willing to convene another deposition at which Clark can assert that privilege on a question-by-question basis.”

Thompson called Clark’s last-minute notice a “last-ditch attempt to delay the Select Committee’s proceedings.”

“The committee would certainly consider that we will not finalize his contempt process if Mr. Clark genuinely cures his failure to comply with the subpoena this Saturday,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a vice chair of the committee, said during the hearing.

Chairman Thompson later discussed this late breaking development on the Rachel Maddow Show.

This is the committee’s second contempt referral against an ally of former president Donald Trump — the Justice Department charged former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon on two counts of criminal contempt last month. Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor criminal offense that can result in up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

Clark, who served as acting head of the Justice Department’s civil division at the end of the Trump administration, refused to answer questions about the former president during a scheduled deposition Nov. 5, according to a copy of the transcript released by the committee. Clark’s lawyer, Harry MacDougald, presented the committee with a letter that objected to answering any questions or providing any records, arguing that Clark did not have to because Trump has asserted they are protected by executive privilege.

Again, as NPR reported:

His attorney claimed Trump directed him not to cooperate in a letter, which was attached to a series of immunity claims shared with the panel. However, the committee disagreed, arguing Trump in fact greenlighted Clark’s testimony in that same Aug. 2 letter — sent on Trump’s behalf by attorney and former Georgia Republican Rep. Doug Collins.

MacDougald also confirmed he and his client were in receipt of a July letter from the Justice Department indicating that executive privilege does not apply to his immunity claims.

So Clark’s attorney be lying.

What happens next? Clark can come clean at his deposition on Saturday (unlikely), or assert his Fifth Amendment privilege against self incrimination (which is conceding that something criminal went on inside the Trump White House). The full House could vote on the committee’s resolution of contempt of Congress next week. The contempt citation will then go to the Biden Justice Department, which by statute must convene a grand jury (the Attorney General apparently has some discretion). Hopefully Merrick Garland will not take as long as he did before indicting Stephen Bannon for contempt of Congress.

A decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Trump’s bogus assertion of executive privilege is expected to be expedited, probably before the end of the year. The court is widely believed among legal experts to reject Trump’s claim of executive privilege.

At that point, Bannon and Clark are asserting their Fifth Amendment privilege against self incrimination only to save their own sorry asses.

The DOJ and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia need to expedite these prosecutions so the January 6 Committee can expedite its investigation.