Jump to content

Jeffrey Clark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Grandpa12345 (talk | contribs) at 06:19, 2 February 2021. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Jeffrey Clark
United States Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division
In office
November 1, 2018 – January 14, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byJohn C. Cruden
United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division
Acting
In office
September 5, 2020 – January 14, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byEthan P. Davis (acting)
Personal details
Born
Jeffrey Bossert Clark

(1967-04-17) April 17, 1967 (age 57)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
EducationHarvard University (BA)
University of Delaware (MA)
Georgetown University (JD)

Jeffrey Bossert Clark (born April 17, 1967)[1] is an American lawyer who resigned as Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division on January 14, 2021 after it emerged that he had planned and participated with President Donald J. Trump in a coup to assume the position of U.S. Attorney General and overthrow the 2020 presidential election results. [2]

Early life

Jeffrey Bossert Clark was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was on the parliamentary debate team at Harvard College, where he graduated with an A.B. in economics and history in 1989. He received a M.A. in urban affairs and public policy from the School of Public Policy & Administration, now the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration at the University of Delaware in 1993; and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1995.[3]

Career

After graduating from law school, Clark clerked for Judge Danny J. Boggs of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Clark joined Kirkland & Ellis as a lawyer in 1996. He has been with the firm since then, excepting a period of service from 2001 to 2005 in the George W. Bush administration as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Justice Department.[4] At Kirkland & Ellis, Clark represented the United States Chamber of Commerce in lawsuits challenging the federal government's authority to regulate carbon emissions and the Environmental Protection Agency's "endangerment finding".[5] From 2012 to 2015, he was a member of the governing council of the American Bar Association's Administrative Law Section.[6] He is also a member of the Federalist Society.[7]

In June 2017, Clark was nominated by President Donald Trump to become the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division.[8] He was confirmed by the Senate on October 11, 2018.[9] Within the division, Clark "developed a reputation for pushing aggressive conservative legal principles and taking a hands-on approach that drew kudos from some colleagues but often frustrated career lawyers on his team."[10]

In September 2020 he was also appointed acting head of the Justice Department's civil division with the support of acting Attorney General, Jeffrey A. Rosen.[11][7] Upon becoming the acting head of the civil division, Clark attempted unsuccessfully to include the government in a defamation lawsuit against President Trump by a plaintiff accusing Trump of rape and "use the Justice Department to sue a former friend" of Melania Trump.[7]

Views on regulating greenhouse gases

Clark has opposed regulation of greenhouse gases.[12] He has characterized US efforts to regulate greenhouse gases as “reminiscent of kind of a Leninistic program from the 1920s to seize control of the commanding heights of the economy.”[13][14] Regarding the 2010 EPA finding on greenhouse gas emissions, Clark wrote in a blog:

When did America risk coming to be ruled by foreign scientists and apparatchiks at the United Nations? The answer, it would seem, is ever since Lisa Jackson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Obama, chose to issue a rule determining that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger the public health and welfare.

— Jeffrey Clark[15]

Attempts to overturn results of 2020 presidential election

Main article: Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election

Dissatisfied that the Justice Department disagreed with his charges of voter fraud in the 2020 election, President Trump floated a plan to replace the acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with Clark. Trump expected Clark would then reverse the decisions of previous Attorneys General, open an investigation, and pressure Georgia election officials to void Biden's win in that state.[11][16] Rosen and his predecessor William Barr had previously resisted pressure from Trump to interfere.

He allegedly told Rosen and other top Justice Department officials that the Department should announce it was investigating serious election fraud issues; Rosen and his deputy Richard Donoghue rejected the suggestion, as the Department had previously determined and announced that there was no significant fraud.[17] Rosen and Donoghue were unaware that Clark had met with Trump. Clark later told Rosen that Trump intended to appoint him to replace Rosen. The Department's remaining senior leaders including Rosen, Donoghue, and head of the OLC Steven Engel agreed they would all resign if Rosen was removed. After Rosen and Clark presented their arguments to Trump in a White House meeting, the president backed away from the plan.[11][16]

Clark was reportedly introduced to Trump by Pennsylvania representative, Scott Perry, because Clark's "openness to conspiracy theories about election fraud presented Mr. Trump with a welcome change from the acting attorney general, Jeffrey A. Rosen, who stood by the results of the election and had repeatedly resisted the president’s efforts to undo them."[18] He denied that he had plotted to replace Rosen, who had mentored Clark when both worked at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis; or to recommend any action based on inaccurate material he read on the internet. He added that he could not discuss any conversations he had with Trump or with Justice Department lawyers because of legal privilege. He noted that in December he had been the lead signatory on the Justice Department's letter opposing a claim that Vice President Mike Pence had the power to reject electoral votes for Biden when Congress met to certify the result.[11]

Clark's plot with Trump to remove Rosen and to use the Justice Department's power to alter Georgia's election results was met with surprise by many of Clark's friends, colleagues, and acquaintances, who had previously viewed him as an "establishment lawyer" rather than a part of the "Trumpist faction of the party."[7]

On January 25, 2021, the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General, Michael E. Horowitz, launched "an investigation into whether any former or current DOJ official engaged in an improper attempt to have DOJ seek to alter the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election."[19] [20]

Clark resigned from the Justice Department on January 14, 2021.[21]

References

  1. ^ "Jeffrey Bossert Clark". www.justice.gov. November 19, 2018.
  2. ^ King, Pamela; Jacobs, Jeremy P. (January 26, 2021). "Law: Who is Jeffrey Bossert Clark?". www.eenews.net. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  3. ^ Jeffrey Bossert Clark (2018 - 2021) United States Department of Justice. January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021
  4. ^ Schneier, Cogan (June 6, 2017). "Trump Announces Slate of Big Law Nominees for DOJ, Agency Posts". The National Law Journal. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  5. ^ Lavelle, Marianne; Cushman, John H. (June 6, 2017). "Trump Names BP Oil Spill Lawyer, Climate Policy Foe as Top DOJ Environment Attorney". InsideClimate News. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  6. ^ "Jeffrey Bossert Clark (2018 - 2021)". United States Department of Justice. January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Benner, Katie; Savage, Charlie (January 25, 2021). "Jeffrey Clark Was Considered Unassuming. Then He Plotted With Trump". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  8. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Additions to his Administration" (Press release). The White House. June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  9. ^ Cama, Timothy (October 11, 2018). "Senate confirms climate skeptic to head DOJ environment office". The Hill. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  10. ^ "Divisive Top Trump Environment Lawyer Reviews 'Challenging Job'". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d Benner, Katie (January 23, 2021). "Trump and Justice Dept. Lawyer Said to Have Plotted to Oust Acting Attorney General" – via NYTimes.com.
  12. ^ "Clark is unfit to lead the Department of Justice's Environmental and Natural Resources Division" (Press release). Sierra Club. June 28, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  13. ^ EPA: An Agency Gone Wild or Just Doing Its Job? (embedded video). Federalist Society. November 20, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  14. ^ Lavelle, Marianne (October 11, 2018). "Senate Confirms BP Oil Spill Lawyer, Climate Policy Foe as Government's Top Environment Attorney". Inside Climate News. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  15. ^ Clark, Jeffrey Bossert (April 28, 2010). "Can the EPA Rely on UN Science?". Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  16. ^ a b Zapotosky, Matt; Barrett, Devlin; Leonnig, Carol D. "Trump entertained plan to install an attorney general who would help him pursue baseless election fraud claims". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  17. ^ "Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud". AP NEWS. December 1, 2020.
  18. ^ Benner, Katie; Edmondson, Catie (January 24, 2021). "Pennsylvania Lawmaker Played Key Role in Trump's Plot to Oust Acting Attorney General". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  19. ^ Benner, Katie (January 25, 2021). "The Justice Dept.'s inspector general opens an investigation into any efforts to overturn the election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  20. ^ Schneider, Jessica; Cole, Devan (January 25, 2021). Justice Department watchdog investigating possible attempt to overturn election results "Justice Department watchdog investigating possible attempt to overturn election results". CNN. Retrieved January 26, 2021. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ King, Pamela; Jacobs, Jeremy P. (January 26, 2021). "Law: Who is Jeffrey Bossert Clark?". www.eenews.net. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
Legal offices
Preceded by
John C. Cruden
 United States Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division
2018–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jeffrey_Clark&oldid=1004358866"