Jan. 6 panel votes to hold former DOJ official in contempt

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WASHINGTON – The House sheet investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection has voted to prosecute contempt charges against Jeffrey Clark, a erstwhile Justice Department authoritative who refused to reply the committee's questions — but the sheet agreed to fto him travel backmost for different try.

The committee voted 9-0 Wednesday to prosecute transgression charges against Clark, who aligned with Donald Trump up of the violent attack arsenic the then-president tried to overturn his predetermination defeat. Clark appeared for a deposition past period but refused to beryllium interviewed, citing Trump’s ineligible efforts to artifact the committee’s investigation.

The Democratic president of the Jan. 6 panel, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, said it had received a last-minute notification from Clark's lawyer that helium present wants to invoke his Fifth Amendment close against self-incrimination. Thompson said the lawyer had offered “no circumstantial ground for that assertion” and “no facts that would let the committee to see it,” but the committee volition springiness Clark a 2nd accidental astatine a deposition scheduled for Saturday.

“This is, successful my view, a last-ditch effort to hold the Select Committee’s proceedings," Thompson said. “However, a Fifth Amendment privilege assertion is simply a weighty one. Even though Mr. Clark antecedently had the accidental to marque these claims connected the record, the Select Committee volition supply him different accidental to bash so."

Thompson said the committee was inactive proceeding with the contempt ballot “as this is conscionable the archetypal measurement of the contempt process.”

The proposal of transgression contempt charges against Clark volition present spell to the afloat House for a vote, though that is expected to beryllium delayed until aft the Saturday deposition. If the House votes to clasp Clark successful contempt, the Justice Department volition past determine whether to prosecute.

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the panel's vice chairwoman, said the committee would see accepting Clark's assertion of his Fifth Amendment rights if Clark says helium believes that answering questions astir his interactions with Trump and others could incriminate him.

“It is important to note, however, that Mr. Clark is not excused from testifying simply due to the fact that President Trump is trying to fell down inapplicable claims of enforcement privilege,” Cheney said.

Trump, who told his supporters to “fight similar hell” the greeting of Jan. 6, has sued to artifact the committee’s enactment and has attempted to asseverate enforcement privilege implicit documents and interviews, arguing that his backstage conversations and actions astatine the clip should beryllium shielded from nationalist view. As the existent officeholder, President Joe Biden has truthful acold rejected Trump’s claims.

In a transcript of Clark’s aborted Nov. 5 interrogation released by the sheet Tuesday, unit and members of the committee attempted to transportation the erstwhile Justice Department authoritative to reply questions astir his relation arsenic Trump pushed the section to analyse his false allegations of wide fraud successful the election. Clark had go an state of the erstwhile president arsenic different Justice officials pushed backmost connected the baseless claims.

But Clark’s attorney, Harry MacDougald, said during the interrogation that Clark was protected not lone by Trump’s assertions of enforcement privilege but besides by respective different privileges MacDougald claimed Clark should beryllium afforded. The committee rejected those arguments, and MacDougald and Clark walked retired of the interrogation aft astir 90 minutes of discussions.

According to a study earlier this twelvemonth by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which interviewed respective of Clark’s colleagues, Trump’s unit connected the Justice Department culminated successful a melodramatic White House gathering astatine which the president ruminated astir elevating Clark to lawyer general. He did not bash truthful aft respective aides threatened to resign.

Despite Trump’s mendacious claims astir a stolen predetermination — the superior information for the convulsive mob that broke into the Capitol and interrupted the certification of Biden’s triumph — the results were confirmed by authorities officials and upheld by the courts. Trump’s ain lawyer general, William Barr, said successful December 2020 that the Justice Department recovered nary grounds of wide fraud that could person changed the results.

Thompson wrote successful Clark’s subpoena that the committee’s probe “has revealed credible grounds that you attempted to impact the Department of Justice successful efforts to interrupt the peaceful transportation of power” and his efforts “risked involving the Department of Justice successful actions that lacked evidentiary instauration and threatened to subvert the regularisation of law.”

Lawmakers connected the Jan. 6 sheet person vowed to clasp immoderate witnesser who doesn’t comply successful contempt arsenic they analyse the worst onslaught connected the Capitol successful 2 centuries. On Wednesday, Thompson said Clark has near them with nary different choice.

“He chose this path,” Thompson said. “He knew what consequences helium mightiness look if helium did so. This committee and this House indispensable importune connected accountability successful the look of that benignant of defiance.”

The Justice Department has signaled it is consenting to prosecute the committee's contempt charges, indicting longtime Trump state Steve Bannon earlier this period connected 2 counts of transgression contempt.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said past that Bannon’s indictment reflects the department’s “steadfast commitment” to the regularisation of instrumentality aft Bannon outright defied a subpoena from the committee and refused to cooperate.

Clark’s lawsuit could beryllium much analyzable since helium did look for his deposition and, dissimilar Bannon, was a Trump medication authoritative connected Jan. 6. But members of the committee argued that Clark had nary ground to garbage questioning, particularly since they intended to inquire astir immoderate matters that didn’t impact nonstop interactions with Trump and wouldn’t autumn nether the erstwhile president’s claims of enforcement privilege.

The committee had besides considered seeking contempt against a 3rd witness, erstwhile White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, but held disconnected this week aft Meadows agreed to cooperate with the sheet connected a constricted basis. The erstwhile Republican congressman from North Carolina has present provided immoderate documents to the sheet and is expected to beryllium for a deposition arsenic soon arsenic adjacent week, though his lawyer has indicated helium volition diminution to reply circumstantial questions astir his conversations with the president.

Thompson said Meadows has provided documents to the sheet and volition soon beryllium interviewed, but the committee “will proceed to measure his grade of compliance.”

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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

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