In an unprecedented move, the D.C. Bar opened an investigation into a former top Justice Department lawyer for advice he gave former President Donald Trump, with documents indicating a Democrat senator prompted the probe. The timing of the procedures, and the complicity between elected officials and the bar, suggest a concerted attempt to create an October surprise.
Even more troubling than this election interference, however, is how dangerous the threat of punishing executive-branch attorneys for providing a legal opinion is to the country. The Democrats’ ploy also risks irreparably cementing America’s partisan divide in the governance of our great country.
Earlier this year, purportedly in response to a letter from Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the D.C. Bar opened an investigation into former Department of Justice attorney Jeff Clark. According to documents filed with the D.C. Bar, based on Durbin’s complaint, the Board of Professional Responsibility charged Clark with violating the Rules of Professional Responsibility by supposedly “engaging in conduct involving dishonesty,” and engaging “in conduct that would seriously interfere in the administration of justice.
The conduct underlying these charges concerned Clark’s drafting of a letter he recommended his bosses send to the Georgia governor, the Georgia speaker of the House, and the Georgia president pro tempore of the Senate concerning the 2020 election. At the time Clark drafted the letter on Dec. 28, 2020, he was the acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the DOJ. He drafted the letter over signature lines for himself and his superiors, Jeff Rosen, the then-acting attorney general, and Richard Donoghue, the then-deputy attorney general.
The draft letter stated that the Department of Justice was “investigating various irregularities in the 2020 election for President of the United States.” The letter continued: “We have identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States, including the State of Georgia.” “In light of these developments,” Clark’s proposed letter stated, “the Department recommends that the Georgia General Assembly should convene in special session so that its legislators are in a position to take additional testimony, receive new evidence, and deliberate on the matter consistent with its duties under the U.S. Constitution.”