Jeffrey Clark Faces Disbarment for Election Falsehoods \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ A Washington disciplinary board has recommended disbarment for Jeffrey Clark over 2020 election falsehoods. Clark pushed a draft DOJ letter filled with discredited fraud claims despite warnings from superiors. The final decision now lies with the D.C. Court of Appeals.
Quick Looks
- D.C. legal panel recommends disbarring ex-Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark.
- Clark backed false fraud claims in 2020 election dispute with DOJ leaders.
- Drafted letter falsely alleging voting irregularities in Georgia and other states.
- Panel said Clark made “intentionally false statements” and ignored factual warnings.
- Final ruling pending from the D.C. Court of Appeals.
- Clark currently leads a federal regulatory office under Trump’s second administration.
- OMB spokesperson claims disbarment push is part of “Deep State assault.”
- Clark’s lawyer says case punishes internal legal debate, calls it a “thought crime.”
- Conflict peaked during Jan. 3, 2021, Oval Office meeting on replacing DOJ leadership.
- Rudy Giuliani was also disbarred for spreading election falsehoods in 2023.
Deep Look
Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who played a controversial role in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, now faces the potential loss of his law license. On Thursday, a Washington D.C. disciplinary panel recommended that Clark be disbarred, citing serious ethical violations stemming from his attempts to use the Justice Department to advance false claims of election fraud.
The decision by the D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility centers on a draft letter Clark wrote while serving as assistant attorney general under Trump. The letter falsely asserted that the DOJ had uncovered “significant concerns” about voting irregularities in Georgia and other key states. Clark urged department leaders to send the letter to Georgia lawmakers—an action his DOJ superiors refused, stating the claims were baseless.
Despite those warnings, Clark continued to push for the letter’s release. According to the disciplinary board, this persistence in promoting knowingly false information amounted to serious misconduct.
“Lawyers cannot advocate for any outcome based on false statements, and they certainly cannot urge others to do so,” the board stated in its formal report. “Respondent persistently and energetically sought to do just that on an important national issue. He should be disbarred as a consequence and to send a message to the rest of the Bar and to the public that this behavior will not be tolerated.”
The recommendation now moves to the D.C. Court of Appeals, which will make the final ruling on whether Clark will lose his law license.
Clark, currently serving as acting head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)—a key federal agency that oversees executive branch regulations—under the revived Trump administration, has denied wrongdoing. His legal team framed the disciplinary case as politically motivated.
“They want to disbar Jeff Clark for the heresy of privately recommending further investigations of the 2020 election,” his attorney, Harry MacDougald, said in a statement. “This is a pure thought crime and a travesty of justice.”
OMB spokesperson Rachel Cauley echoed that sentiment in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), calling the panel’s recommendation “another chapter in the Deep State’s ongoing assault on President Trump and those who stood beside him in defense of the truth.”
“JEFF CLARK has been harassed, raided, doxed, and blacklisted simply for questioning a RIGGED election and serving President Trump,” she wrote.
Clark’s efforts culminated in a dramatic Jan. 3, 2021, meeting in the Oval Office, described in detail in a Senate Judiciary Committee report. During that meeting, Trump considered replacing then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with Clark, who supported Trump’s false election claims. The proposal triggered pushback from senior DOJ officials, who threatened mass resignations if Trump followed through.
The disbarment push against Clark mirrors actions taken against other Trump allies involved in election denial efforts. Rudy Giuliani, one of the former president’s closest advisors and his post-election legal point man, was disbarred in Washington, D.C., in 2023 and previously lost his law license in New York for making similar false claims.
The panel’s report sets a precedent for holding government lawyers accountable when they push legal actions based on knowingly false premises. It also reinforces a broader trend of professional consequences for lawyers who participated in efforts to overturn democratic election results through misinformation and unfounded legal maneuvers.
Clark’s fate now rests with the D.C. Court of Appeals, but the message from the legal community is clear: fabricating facts for political or ideological goals violates the fundamental duty of truthfulness every attorney is sworn to uphold.
Jeffrey Clark Faces
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