Jan. 6 panel issues subpoena for Trump ally, ex-DOJ official Jeffrey Clark
The Democratic-led House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol issued a subpoena Wednesday for Jeffrey Clark, an ex-Justice department official who had promised to pursue former President Trump's false election fraud claims.
Clark was a key figure in a recent Senate report detailing Trump's attempts to enlist the department in his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Trump had considered replacing his former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with Clark, who was in a lower-ranking position.
"The Select Committee needs to understand all the details about efforts inside the previous administration to delay the certification of the 2020 election and amplify misinformation about the election results," Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement. "We need to understand Mr. Clark's role in these efforts at the Justice Department and learn who was involved across the administration The Select Committee expects Mr. Clark to cooperate fully with our investigation."
In a letter, the committee is directing Clark to produce records by and to testify on Oct. 29.
Among the recent details from a Senate Judiciary Committee report, Clark had proposed delivery of a letter to Georgia state lawmakers and others to push for a delay in certifying election results, the committee noted. Clark also recommended holding a press conference announcing the Justice Department was investigating allegations of voter fraud despite the lack of evidence that such fraud was present.
Those plans were rejected by top leaders at the department.
The new subpoena comes a day before deadlines for four former Trump officials. The committee issued its first round of subpoenas several weeks ago to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, political strategist Steve Bannon, former Trump White House deputy chief of staff for communications Dan Scavino and Kashyap Patel, who was chief of staff to former-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller.
Bannon and Patel are due to testify Thursday, followed by Meadows and Scavino on Friday. However, it is unclear whether any of them will comply. Bannon has already said he would not be cooperating with the investigation. [Copyright 2021 NPR]
