An attorney discipline panel in Washington, DC, has made a preliminary decision that former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark could face sanctions including disbarment for trying to sow doubt in Donald Trump’s electoral loss in 2020.
The finding follows a several-day trial and puts Clark on the path toward serious penalties as a lawyer because of his efforts in the final days of the Trump administration. He is separately fighting criminal charges in Georgia related to those efforts.
The ethics charges that were brought against Clark by the DC Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel allege that he was dishonest and attempted to interfere with the administration of justice after the 2020 election. The panel’s finding is not binding, the chair of the panel noted.
After Thursday’s finding was announced, a lawyer for the disciplinary counsel confirmed the office would seek Clark’s disbarment.
Trump came close to installing Clark as his last attorney general, as part of the effort to unravel his loss in battleground states, but he didn’t follow through in his final weeks in office. At the time, Clark believed foreign-controlled smart thermostats could have interfered with votes and rejected federal investigative findings that showed no widespread fraud had occurred in the election.
An attorney for Clark at the trial attempted to highlight how Clark was working on the behalf of the then-president after the election.
But several former higher-ranking Justice Department officials, including then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and then-Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, testified at the trial that Clark’s efforts within the DOJ were out of line.
The witnesses testified Clark pushed false information within the department, while acting outside of the chain of command to communicate with Trump at the White House.
The attorney discipline trial began last week before a three-person disciplinary committee. A final recommendation will ultimately come from the panel and be sent to a professional responsibility board and the DC court for consideration.
Clark brought lawsuits challenging the validity of the DC Bar’s disciplinary proceedings against him. The litigation delayed the start of the proceedings by several months, and a federal appeals court is still considering an aspect of the litigation.
Others who worked for Trump after the election are also facing attorney discipline consequences, with each at different stages.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has already been recommended for disbarment by a hearing committee in DC following a trial, and his law license was suspended by a New York court.
Separately, ex-Trump attorney John Eastman said he has notified the DC Bar that his law license is now inactive after a judge in California recommended his disbarment, according to court filings.