On January 6, panel issues subpoena for former Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark: NPR

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Former DOJ official Jeff Clark speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on Monday, September 14, 2020.

Susan Walsh / AP


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Susan Walsh / AP


Former DOJ official Jeff Clark speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on Monday, September 14, 2020.

Susan Walsh / AP

The Democratic-led House select committee investigating the January 6 riot on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday issued a subpoena for Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who had vowed to prosecute false allegations of fraud election campaign of former President Trump.

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 must understand all the details of efforts within the previous administration to delay certification of the 2020 elections and amplify disinformation about election results,” President Bennie Thompson said in a statement. “We need to understand Mr. Clark’s role in these efforts at the Department of Justice and who was involved in the administration. The select committee expects Mr. Clark to cooperate fully with our investigation.”

In a letter, the committee is ordering Clark to produce records and testify on October 29.

Among recent details of a Senate Judiciary Committee report, Clark had offered to deliver a letter to Georgia state lawmakers and others to lobby for a delay in certifying election results, noted the committee. Clark also recommended holding a press conference announcing that the Justice Department was investigating allegations of electoral fraud despite the lack of evidence of the presence of such fraud.

These plans were rejected by senior officials in the department.

The new subpoena comes a day ahead of deadlines for four former Trump officials. The committee issued its first round of summons several weeks ago to the former White House chief of staff Marc des meadows, political strategist Steve bannon, former Trump deputy White House 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 scheduled to testify on Thursday, followed by Meadows and Scavino on Friday. However, it is not clear whether any of them will comply. Bannon has already said he will not cooperate with the investigation.

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