Lawmakers probing U.S. Capitol attack pursue contempt charges against 2nd Trump ally
Global News
Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who aligned with Donald Trump in his election challenges, refused to answer the committee's questions last month.
The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack voted Wednesday to pursue contempt charges against Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who refused to answer the committee’s questions, even as the committee has agreed to let him come back for another try.
The committee voted 9-0 to pursue criminal charges against Clark, who aligned with Donald Trump as the then-president tried to overturn his election defeat.
The Democratic chairman of the Jan. 6 panel, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, said it had received a last-minute notification from Clark’s lawyer that he wants to instead invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Thompson said the lawyer had offered “no specific basis for that assertion” and “no facts that would allow the committee to consider it,” but the committee will give him a second chance at a deposition scheduled for Saturday.
“This is, in my view, a last-ditch attempt to delay the Select Committee’s proceedings,” Thompson said. “However, a Fifth Amendment privilege assertion is a weighty one. Even though Mr. Clark previously had the opportunity to make these claims on the record, the Select Committee will provide him another chance to do so.”
Thompson said the committee still proceeded with the contempt vote “as this is just the first step of the contempt process.”
Clark appeared for a deposition last month but refused to answer any questions, citing Trump’s legal efforts to block the committee’s investigation.
The recommendation of criminal contempt charges against Clark will now go to the full House for a vote, though it is unclear if that will be delayed. If the House votes to hold Clark in contempt, the Justice Department will then decide whether to prosecute.
In a transcript of Clark’s aborted Nov. 5 interview released by the panel Tuesday, staff and members of the committee attempted to persuade the former Justice Department official to answer questions about his role as Trump pushed the department to investigate his false allegations of widespread fraud in the election. Clark had become an ally of the former president as other Justice officials pushed back on the baseless claims.