4.6 President Trump is Introduced to Jeffrey Clark

¶On December 21, 2020, 11 House Republicans met with President Trump at the White House to discuss their plans for objecting to the certification of the electoral college vote on January 6th.⁹⁷⁹⁷ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (National Archives Production), 076P-R001080 (December 21, 2020, WAVES visitor records). After the meeting, Mark Meadows tweeted: “Several members of Congress just finished a meeting in the Oval Office with @realDonaldTrump preparing to fight back against mounting evidence of voter fraud. Stay tuned.”⁹⁸⁹⁸ Mark Meadows (@MarkMeadows), Twitter, Dec. 21, 2020 6:03 pm, available at https://twitter.com/MarkMeadows/status/1341157317451124745. Among those in attendance was Congressman Scott Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania.⁹⁹⁹⁹ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (National Archives Production), 076P-R001080 (WAVES visitor records for December 21, 2020).

¶By the next day, Representative Perry had introduced a little-known DOJ official named Jeffrey Clark to the President.¹⁰⁰¹⁰⁰ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Deposition of Molly Michael, (March 24, 2022), pp. 205–06; Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (National Archives Production), 076P-R000009364_0001 (December 21 and 22, 2020 email chain between Molly Michael and Jeffrey Clark discussing a December 22, 2020 meeting at the White House); Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (National Archives Production), 076P-R000009365_0001 (December 22, 2020 email from Molly Michael to staff regarding a meeting at 6 p.m. in the Yellow Oval with Jeffrey Clark and another guest); Jonathan Tamari & Chris Brennan, “Pa. Congressman Scott Perry Acknowledges Introducing Trump to Lawyer at the Center of Election Plot,” Philadelphia Inquirer, (Jan. 25, 2021), available at https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/scott-perry-trump-georgia-election-results-20210125.html.Show full note At the time, Clark was the Acting Head of the Civil Division and Head of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice.¹⁰¹¹⁰¹ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Jeffrey Rosen, (Oct. 13, 2021), pp. 52–53. Clark had no experience in, or responsibilities related to, investigating allegations of election fraud.

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¶President Trump called Acting Attorney General Rosen “virtually every day” between December 23rd and January 3rd.¹⁰²¹⁰² Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Hearing on the January 6th Investigation, 117th Cong., 2d sess., (June 23, 2022), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-january6th. The President usually discussed his “dissatisfaction” with DOJ, claiming the Department was not doing enough to investigate election fraud.¹⁰³¹⁰³ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Hearing on the January 6th Investigation, 117th Cong., 2d sess., (June 23, 2022), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-january6th. On Christmas Eve, Trump brought up Jeffrey Clark’s name. Rosen found it “peculiar,” telling the Select Committee: “I was quizzical as to how does the President even know Mr. Clark?”¹⁰⁴¹⁰⁴ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Hearing on the January 6th Investigation, 117th Cong., 117th sess., (June 23, 2022), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-january6th. Rosen then spoke directly with Clark on December 26th.¹⁰⁵¹⁰⁵ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Jeffrey Rosen, (Oct. 13, 2021), pp. 55–56, 78. Clark revealed that he had met with the President in the Oval Office several days prior.¹⁰⁶¹⁰⁶ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Jeffrey Rosen, (Oct. 13, 2021), pp. 55–56. Clark had told the President that if he were to change the leadership at the Department of Justice, “then the Department might be able to do more” to support the President’s claims that the election had been stolen from him.¹⁰⁷¹⁰⁷ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Deposition of Kenneth Klukowski, (Dec. 15, 2021), pp. 53–55.

¶Former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark appears on a screen during a Select Committee hearing on June 23, 2022. (Photo by Mandel Ngan-Pool/Getty Images)

¶In his discussion with Acting Attorney General Rosen, Clark was “defensive” and “apologetic,” claiming that the meeting with President Trump was “inadvertent and it would not happen again, and that if anyone asked him to go to such a meeting, he would notify Rich Donoghue and me [Rosen].”¹⁰⁸¹⁰⁸ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Hearing on the January 6th Investigation, 117th Cong., 2d sess., (June 23, 2022), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-january6th. Of course, Clark had good reasons to be defensive. His meeting with President Trump and Representative Perry on December 22nd was a clear violation of Department policy, which limits interactions between the White House and the Department’s staff. As Steven Engel, former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, explained to the Select Committee, “it’s critical that the Department of Justice conducts its criminal investigations free from either the reality or any appearance of political interference.”¹⁰⁹¹⁰⁹ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Hearing on the January 6th Investigation, 117th Cong., 2d sess., (June 23, 2022), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-january6th. For that reason, the Department has longstanding polices in place, across administrations, to “keep these communications as infrequent and at the highest levels as possible, just to make sure that people who are less careful about it, who don’t really understand these implications, such as Mr. Clark, don’t run afoul of the of those contact policies.”¹¹⁰¹¹⁰ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Hearing on the January 6th Investigation, 117th Cong., 2d sess., (June 23, 2022), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-january6th. Rosen added that only the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General “can have conversations about criminal matters with the White House,” or they can “authorize” someone from within DOJ to do so.¹¹¹¹¹¹ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Hearing on the January 6th Investigation, 117th Cong., 2d sess., (June 23, 2022), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-january6th; Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Department of Justice Production), HCOR-Pre-CertificationEvents-07262021-000681 (May 11, 2009, memorandum laying out the policy for “Communications with the White House and Congress”).Show full note Clark had no such authorization.

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¶Representative Perry continued to advocate on Clark’s behalf. The Congressman texted Meadows on December 26th, writing: “Mark, just checking in as time continues to count down. 11 days to 1/6 and 25 days to inauguration. We gotta get going!”¹¹²¹¹² Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Mark Meadows Production), MM014099 (December 26, 2020, text message from Rep. Perry to Mark Meadows). Representative Perry followed up: “Mark, you should call Jeff. I just got off the phone with him and he explained to me why the principal deputy [position] won’t work especially with the FBI. They will view it as not having the authority to enforce what needs to be done.”¹¹³¹¹³ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Mark Meadows Production), MM0140100 (December 26, 2020, text message from Rep. Perry to Mark Meadows). Meadows responded: “I got it. I think I understand. Let me work on the deputy position.”¹¹⁴¹¹⁴ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Mark Meadows Production), MM014101 (December 26, 2020, text message from Mark Meadows to Rep. Perry). Representative Perry then sent additional texts: “Roger. Just sent you something on Signal”, “Just sent you an updated file”, and “Did you call Jeff Clark?”¹¹⁵¹¹⁵ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Mark Meadows Production), MM014102-014103, MM014178.