Attorney Jeffrey Clark is now leading the White House office charged with reviewing agency regulations. Clark worked closely with Vought and Paoletta during Trump’s first administration and, later, at Center for Renewing America.
Washington DC’s disciplinary board has recommended that Clark lose his law license after engaging the Justice Department in Trump’s failed attempt at subverting election results. This recommendation will now go before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals for review.
What is his status?
Clark was an environmental lawyer at the Department of Justice who played a pivotal role in President Donald Trump’s efforts to challenge Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. According to Senate Judiciary Committee investigators, Clark pushed Justice Department superiors into sending Georgia lawmakers an inaccurate letter falsely alleging federal officials had significant concerns with its electoral process.
Clark remains unclear in terms of his current standing; however, it seems he remains employed with the White House at which time he oversees OMB’s regulatory review office. Additionally, he is listed in CFPB email directories as an advisor to Mark Paoletta who recently became their Chief Legal Officer.
On Thursday, a Washington, DC disciplinary board recommended that Clark be stripped of his law license. That recommendation will now go before the District’s court of appeals for further review; failing any intervention within 30 days by this court, his disbarment will take place automatically. His lawyers declined comment.
What is his legal status?
Washington, DC’s bar disciplinary board has recommended that Attorney Mark Clark be disbarred, sending its recommendation on to the DC Court of Appeals for final approval.
The panel found that Clark “was prepared to cause the Justice Department to tell a lie” and tried to pressure his bosses into pushing states into investigating potential election fraud allegations after President Trump lost to Joe Biden. Additionally, he sought to influence administration to issue false statements regarding investigation of 2020 election results.
DOJ officials raided Kirkland & Ellis partner Clark’s home in June reportedly in search of information related to his efforts in spreading the notion that the election was fraudulent. Clark remains listed as an adviser for Mark Paoletta of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and posted “The fight continues” shortly after hearing of their disciplinary ruling on X.
Where is he?
A DC disciplinary panel has recommended that Clark be subject to professional reprimand in relation to her involvement with Trump’s attempts at staying in power after losing the election, and will now go before the Court of Appeals for final consideration.
Clark currently works at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as an adviser to Mark Paoletta, its newly appointed chief legal officer. According to sources familiar with their roles, both are members of a front office group under Russell Vought who is Head of Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in White House.
Clark was part of a Justice Department environmental division team which, following Donald Trump’s loss in 2016, considered ousting then-acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen as acting AG, only for this plan to be abandoned due to senior Justice Department officials threatening mass resignations over it.
Why is he not in court?
Federal courts have rejected Clark’s petition for reconsideration of their ruling that the D.C. Bar’s Board of Professional Responsibility should take action against him for his efforts to subvert the integrity of the 2021 election process. Now, that decision has been sent on for final review by the DC Court of Appeals.
Clark was also instrumental in Trump’s effort to challenge the results of the 2020 election in court, with an original special counsel indictment naming Clark as co-conspirator No. 4. However, new prosecutor Jack Smith later dropped that reference from their superseding indictment issued July 1.
Move may have been made to prevent Clark from destroying evidence at home; however, other legal ramifications still apply, including the D.C. Bar’s recommendation that his law license be suspended for two years; according to Clark’s lawyer this decision will go before DC Court of Appeals for final determination.
