'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On Tuesday, August 1, former US President President Donald Trump was indicted for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 US election results. The probe also claimed that lawyer Jeffrey Clark was involved in the supposed scheme. Clark, a 56-year-old American lawyer, served under the Trump administration as the Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
According to CBS, Jeffrey Clark is accused of telling Donald Trump that if he was made the head of the Justice Department, he would push for state legislatures to allow for the selection of new electors. Clark is said to have drafted a letter in an attempt to make pro-Biden States 'reconvene' their election results. This has been identified as an essential step in Trump's alleged conspiracy to manipulate the democratic process.
All there is to know about Donald Trump's alleged accomplice
According to The National Law Journal, Jeffrey Clark formally began his career as a lawyer in 1996, when he began working under the firm Kirkland & Ellis. In 2001, Clark began working under the George Bush Administration, serving as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Justice Department. He held the position until 2005, when he returned to Kirkland & Ellis to continue practicing law.
CNN reported that in 2018, Clark began serving under the Donald Trump administration as United States Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. In 2020, he became acting head of the Justice Department's Civil Division.
Prosecutors in the recent indictment claimed that in 2020, after Joe Biden's victory, Clark promised Donald Trump that he would help spread information that the election results were fake. Trump was reportedly willing to support Clark, as the then acting United States Attorney general Jeffrey Rosen had not supported Trump's allegations against the Biden administration.
During a committee hearing, Rep. Adam Kinzinger accused Jeffrey Clark of being a political lackey loyal to Donald Trump.
Rep. Kinzinger said:
"Who is Jeff Clark? An environmental lawyer with no experience relevant to leading the entire Department of Justice. What was his only qualification? That he would do whatever the president wanted him to do, including overthrowing a free and fair democratic election."
In an official filing, the United States District Court of Columbia outlined the allegations against Clark.
The statement read:
"The Specification alleges that, despite having “no involvement in or responsibility for (DOJ’s) post-election investigations (....) Mr. Clark tasked a senior counsel in the Civil Division with researching “the authority of state legislatures to send unauthorized slate of electors to Congress."
The letter went on to state that after the research was completed, Jeffrey Clark sent several 'proof of concept' letters claiming widespread manipulation. The letters reached officials such as Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue.
Despite Clark's claims, investigators said there is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 elections.
The Capitol riots
The recent indictment of the former President comes more than three years after the insurrection of January 6, 2020. Donald Trump has been accused of calling upon his supporters to enter the United States Capitol building in a mass demonstration. The incident led to 5 deaths and over 100 injuries. Over 1000 people, including the former President, have faced charges in the wake of the attack.
Trump continues to deny that he was directly involved in the attack, instead claiming that his passionate supporters executed it after becoming outraged at the election results. CNN and various other outlets described the incident as an example of domestic terrorism.
