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Special agents from the Justice Department raided the home of former assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark’s home in June as part of investigations relating to criminal conspiracy and making false statements, the Washington Examiner cited court demands.
The agents
seized Clark’s phone in the early morning raid on June 20 in a move to collect
evidence at part of an investigation into possible violation of three different
laws, the Washington Examiner quoted Clark as revealing in a filing with the D.C.
Bar’s Board Professional Responsibility.
"Mr.
Clark asserts that '[o]n June 20, 2022, approximately a dozen armed agents of
the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General executed a criminal
search warrant at [Mr. Clark’s] home at around 7 a.m. and seized his electronic
devices,' in connection with an investigation into violations of '18 U.S.C. §
1001, which relates to false statements, 18 U.S.C. § 371, which relates to
conspiracy, and 18 U.S.C § 1512, which relates to obstruction of
justice,'" the filing explained, according to the Washington Examiner.
The D.C. Bar’s
disciplinary counsel had issued an ethics complaint against Clark, accusing him
of using his position at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to further former
President Donald Trump’s widespread election fraud claims, the Washington
Examiner reported. Clark’s filling related to the allegations, according to a
report by CNN.
The DOJ has
been investigating the violent siege at Congress on January 6, 2021 as well as
efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the election victory of President
Joe Biden which culminated in the deadly riot at Congress during the
certification process.
The filing,
according to the Washington Examiner revealed that the raid “only means that
the Department of Justice believed that Mr. Clark has evidence relating to the
criminal investigation,” not that he was “the target of a Grand Jury”.
The raid at
the former assistant Attorney General’s home happened a day before a public
hearing by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 siege at
Congress.
"I just
think we're living in an era that I don't recognize, and increasingly, Tucker,
I don't recognize the country anymore with these kinds of Stasi-like things
happening," Clark lamented to Fox News's Tucker Carlson after the raid,
according to Washington Examiner.
Former White
House lawyer Eric Herschmann who represented Donald Trump in the first
impeachment trial against the former president have been subpoenaed by the DOJ.
He later joined the White House as a senior adviser providing legal advice to
the Trump.
Pat
Cipollone, a former White House counsel, and Patrick Philbin, a former deputy
counsel have also been subpoenaed, according to Politico.
Herschmann
clashed with other Trump aides and advisers who pushed the defeated president
to fight his election loss and was present in many key meetings at the time.
Herschmann was present at a high-stakes meeting where several top Justice
Department officials threatened to resign if Trump sacks then Attorney General
Jeff Rosen and replace him with his subordinate who agreed to further the
former president’s baseless election fraud claims, according to Politico.
Herschmann
has also testified before the House Select Committee investigating the January
6 insurrection where he described lambasting Jeffrey Clark, a top Justice
Department lawyer at the time, during a White House meeting on January 3, 2021.
Clark urged Trump to remove Rosen and give him the job.
Clark had encouraged his DOJ colleagues to send letters to state legislators alleging that the department had found evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election where Trump was defeated by President Joe Biden.
Former
Attorney General Bill Barr, dismissed the voter fraud lies, saying the
department had found no evidence of electoral fraud.
Herschmann
recalled during his testify at the panel that he found Clark’s idea to be
“asinine” and dryly brought up Clark’s past as an environmental lawyer,
according to Politico.
“I thought
Jeff’s proposal — Clark’s proposal was nuts,” Herschmann told the committee. “I
mean this guy, at a certain point, ‘Listen, the best I can tell is the only
thing you know about environmental and elections challenges is they both start
with E. And based on your answers tonight, I’m not even certain you know
that.’”