By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney Jeffrey Clark, who held a senior role in the U.S. Justice Department during Donald Trump's presidency, should face professional discipline over his effort to enlist the agency in the former president’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, a Washington legal panel concluded on Thursday.
The finding, which is preliminary, followed several days of testimony on Clark’s attempt to take charge of the Justice Department in the final days of Trump's term as he sought to block certification of his defeat to Democratic President Joe Biden using false claims of rampant voter fraud.
The three-member committee of the District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility, which handles attorney ethics cases in the U.S. capital, determined Clark’s conduct violated at least one attorney ethics rule.
A lawyer for Clark denied that he violated any ethics rules, arguing there was an internal dispute within the Justice Department about the election.
Russ Vought, head of the conservative legal advocacy group Center for Renewing America, where Clark works as a senior fellow, called the decision a "gross miscarriage of justice" and said Clark was being sanctioned for "doing his job and telling the truth."
The panel will recommend a specific sanction later, which could include suspending or revoking Clark’s law license. Any sanction must first be approved by the full board and a Washington appeals court.
Hamilton Fox, head of the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which brought the charges, said he would seek to have Clark disbarred. Fox said Clark was willing to aid Trump's attempts to use the Justice Department to undermine the election results.
"It doesn't matter whether it's magical thinking, misplaced loyalty, personal ambition. It's conduct that violated the rules," Fox told the panel.
Clark, who served as acting head of the Justice Department's civil division under Trump, faced two legal ethics charges accusing him of attempting to take actions "involving dishonesty" that "would seriously interfere with the administration of justice."
Clark proposed sending a letter to Georgia’s governor and top state lawmakers in December 2020 falsely asserting the Justice Department had "identified significant concerns" that may have tipped the election in Georgia and other states, according to D.C.’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
The letter urged state lawmakers to convene to investigate purported election irregularities and consider sending a slate of presidential electors for Trump despite Biden’s win in the state.
Justice Department leaders refused to send the letter. Trump backed off plans to name Clark acting attorney general when the leadership of the Justice Department and White House lawyers threatened to resign in protest.