By Steve Neavling
Among the lingering questions of the Jan. 6 probe is whether Donald Trump temporarily empowered Jeffrey Clark – a key ally in his campaign to overturn the 2020 election – to oversee the entire Justice Department.
Clark’s attorney Harry MacDougald offered this answer last week: “There was a period on Jan. 3 when he was acting attorney general until the president changed his mind later that day.”
MacDougald’s response came during a disciplinary hearing to determine whether Clark should be stripped of his law license in Washington D.C.
It has been widely reported that top DOJ officials warned of mass resignations if Trump went through with the appointment of Clark, a little-known attorney who had focused on environmental law for the Justice Department.
But it was a mystery if Trump actually appointed Clark.
The Jan. 6 select committee uncovered call logs from Jan. 3, 2021, that show Trump talked over the phone with Clark four times that day. In the logs, the first three calls identified Clark as “Mr. Jeffrey Clark,” but the fourth one listed him as “Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Clark.”
“[C]ontemporaneous White House documents suggest that Clark had already been appointed as the Acting Attorney General,” the report concludes.
Clark has refused to answer questions about the appointment and repeatedly pleaded the Fifth during the disbarment hearing.
