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Who is Jeffrey Clark? Donald Trump planned coup with lawyer to remove AG Jeffrey Rosen, says report

Trump plotted with Clark on ways to ‘cast doubt’ on the election results in Georgia, while simultaneously pressuring politicians from the state

In a shocking report published by The New York Times, it has come to light that former President Donald Trump 'plotted' with Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark to remove Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, thereby overturning the 2020 Presidential Election results. Trump allegedly plotted with Clark on ways to ‘cast doubt’ on the election results in Georgia, thereby continuing his legal battle challenging the results, while simultaneously pressuring politicians from the state. Since AG Rosen was not on board with Trump’s plots, Trump considered removing and replacing him with Jeffrey Clark.

Who is Jeffrey Clark?

A graduate of Harvard University, hailing from Philadelphia, Jeffrey Clark studied at the Biden School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware, before pursuing law from Georgetown University Law Center in 1995. After a commendable start with the State of Delaware's Department of Finance, followed by a long stint at the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), Clark was nominated by President Trump to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of ENRD in 2017. The US Senate confirmed his appointment and he was sworn into office in November 2018. 

From September 3, 2020, upon exclusive directives from Trump, Clark started serving as the acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Division in addition to his original role. The Civil Division comprises around 1,000 lawyers handling cases in national policies, military actions, counterterrorism, law enforcement, treasury frauds, major national and international litigations.

During this time, Trump worked in direct connivance with Clark to illegally upturn the election results that declared his contender Joe Biden as the president-elect. When AG Rosen was found to be opposing Trump’s plot, the former president went to the extent of arranging a meeting between the two officials, where both of them debated for the position of the attorney general, much similar in manner to the reality show ‘The Apprentice’. However, Trump had to back down on his plan later when he learned about the risk of mass resignation of justice department officials, in case Rosen was removed.

When questioned about his actions by NYT, Jeffrey Clark stated that all his official communications were consistent with the law. “'Senior Justice Department lawyers, not uncommonly, provide legal advice to the White House as part of our duties,” he remarked.

How did Trump plan to remove Rosen?

 After Bill Barr resigned as the attorney general before Christmas 2020, Jeffrey Rosen was instated as the acting AG. However, he was soon pushed by Trump to appoint special counsels, for instance, one that would investigate an election machinery company that Trump accused of switching his votes to Joe Biden. 

As Trump delved deeper into his controversial plans, Rosen was not ready to cooperate. That was when Trump plotted to have him removed and appoint Clark as AG. That was when the now-infamous ‘The Apprentice’ style meeting was held. However, as word spread among the Justice Department officials about Rosen’s possible removal, they unanimously declared to resign en masse.

This concerned Trump, as he believed that a mass resignation at the top of the Justice Department would shift the national attention from his “baseless accusations” of voter fraud. Ultimately, he decided to drop his plans of coup against Rosen. As soon as the report surfaced, Twitter erupted in a series of angry reactions. "This was just 1 of many impeachable plots Trump had shown how seriously HE tried to stage a coup. He planned to replace the acting AG, Jeffrey Rosen, with Jeffrey Clark, who was willing to try to force GA to overturn its election results. Not impeach HIM?" wrote one user.

"Jeffrey Clark, Trump’s pick for DOJ top environmental attorney has a vast anti-climate record: https://slate.com/technology/2017/06/this-is-not-going-to-be-good-for-climate-change.html via @Slate" pointed out one user.

"Very disappointed Former president Trump discussed a plan with Jeffrey Clark, the acting head of the Justice Department’s civil division, to remove Jeffrey Rosen as acting attorney general in order to pressure Georgia state lawmakers to overturn its presidential election results!," one user replied sarcastically to Senator Lindsey Graham who criticized Trump's second impeachment.