“A Scurrilous Claim”
District of Columbia Disciplinary Counsel has filed its response to the latest screed of Jeffrey Clark’s defense counsel, noting that the objections to the testimony it seeks from former Department of Justice officials have already been waived, that Clark himself has indicated he will invoke the 5th Amendment and that Clark and other DOJ attorneys do not have an attorney-client relationship with the former President.
Further
There are many other statements and arguments in Mr. Clark’s motion with which Disciplinary Counsel takes issue, but which do not deserve much attention here. For example, Mr. Clark claims that it is undisputed that he was acting within the scope of his duties when attempting to coerce his superiors at the Justice Department to send the draft letter. Mot. at 2-3. But that is not the case. To the contrary, in his attempt to remove the criminal case against him in Georgia, the court concluded that Mr. Clark failed to show “that he was acting within the scope of his federal office” regarding the letter. See Order at 22, Georgia v. Clark, No. 1:23-cv-03721 (N.D. Ga. Sept. 29, 2023). Mr. Clark repeatedly asserts, without citation, that the disciplinary proceedings were brought for political purposes. Mot. at 3, 7. If he has evidence to support that claim, then he should bring it forward. If he does not, then he should withdraw it. He also implies that Disciplinary Counsel is somehow acting on behalf of the District Attorney’s office in Fulton County, Georgia, to weaken his defenses in the criminal case brought against him there. Mot. at 6, 13 n. 6. Disciplinary Counsel has previously represented that it has had no contact with the Fulton County authorities. Pre-Hearing Conference Tr. 157-58 (Oct. 19, 2023). If Mr. Clark has any contrary evidence, then he should bring it forth; otherwise, he should stop making this baseless assertion. Finally, the suggestion that President Biden’s waiver of executive privilege is somehow invalid because he lacked the “cognitive capacity” to do it and that there is a possibility he may be removed under the 25th Amendment, Mot. at 20-21, is a scurrilous claim that has no place in a pleading signed by lawyers. See Rule 3.1.
Access here. (Mike Frisch)