Jeffrey Clark

Jeffrey Bossert Clark (born April 17, 1967) is an American lawyer who was Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division from 2018 to 2021.

He was on the parliamentary debate team at Harvard College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and history in 1989.

He received a Master of Arts in urban affairs and public policy from the University of Delaware in 1993, and a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1995.

After graduating from law school, Clark clerked for Judge Danny J. Boggs of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Cincinnati, Ohio).

Clark joined Kirkland & Ellis as a lawyer during 1996–2001 and 2005–2018.

During 2001–2005, he served in the George W. Bush administration as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Justice Department.

At Kirkland & Ellis, Clark represented the United States Chamber of Commerce in lawsuits challenging the federal government's authority to regulate carbon emissions and the Environmental Protection Agency's "endangerment finding," while also a part of the team representing BP in lawsuits related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

In 2010, he had characterized US efforts to regulate greenhouse gases as "reminiscent of kind of a Leninistic program from the 1920s to seize control of the commanding heights of the economy."

While Assistant Attorney General, Clark tried to delay the DOJ in seeking criminal and civil charges against North Dakota pipeline operator Summit Midstream Partners for its role in the largest-ever inland spill of waste water from oil drilling.

Clark's attempts to delay the case led prosecutors under his supervision to go directly to Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with the prosecutors arguing that Clark's rationale for delaying the case was inconsistent with "decades of case law".

Ultimately, the DOJ proceeded with the case, which would become one of the largest water pollution cases in U.S. history.

Summit Midstream Partners ultimately pleaded guilty and incurred $36.3 million in civil penalties.

From 2012 to 2015, he was a member of the governing council of the American Bar Association's Administrative Law Section.

He is also a member of the Federalist Society.

In June 2017, Clark was nominated by President Donald Trump to become the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

He was confirmed by the Senate on October 11, 2018.

Within the division, Clark "developed a reputation for pushing aggressive conservative legal principles and taking a hands-on approach that drew kudos from some colleagues but often frustrated career lawyers on his team."

Clark had opposed regulation of greenhouse gases.

In September 2020, he was also appointed acting head of the Civil Division.

In 2020 and 2021, Clark allegedly helped then-president Donald Trump attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Clark's actions in that endeavor were reviewed by the District of Columbia Bar – the entity authorized by law to pursue attorney discipline and disbarment in the District of Columbia – which recommended discipline to the DC Court of Appeals in July 2022.

He was identified as an unindicted co-conspirator in the federal prosecution of Donald Trump over attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

On August 14, 2023, he was indicted along with 18 other people in the prosecution related to the 2020 election in Georgia.

After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Trump refused to concede while making false claims of fraud, Clark worked on ways to cast doubt on the election results.

Trump considered installing Clark as head of the Department of Justice when acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen refused to lend credence to Trump's false claims of fraud, but backed off when faced with the prospect of mass resignations within the Department of Justice if he made the change.

Clark resigned from the Department of Justice on January 14, 2021, after controversy over his post-election actions.

After the end of the Trump administration, Clark was briefly named the Chief of Litigation and Director of Strategy at the conservative-libertarian New Civil Liberties Alliance.

On December 1, 2021, the House committee on the January 6 attack voted to recommend contempt of Congress charges against Clark after he refused to comply with a subpoena.

Clark was working as a Senior Fellow and Director of Litigation at the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank founded by his friend Russell Vought, former director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Clark was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He graduated from Father Judge High School in the Holmesburg section of Northeast Philadelphia.

In September 2020, he was also appointed acting head of the Justice Department's Civil Division with the support of Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen.

Upon becoming the acting head of the civil division, Clark attempted unsuccessfully to include the government in lawsuits concerning defamation against Trump by E. Jean Carroll, who has accused Trump of raping her, and against a former friend of First Lady Melania Trump.

In late December 2020 and early January 2021, Clark tried unsuccessfully to get the Justice Department to support Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Trump refused to concede and strove to overturn Biden's win, making false claims of election fraud.

Clark became an ally of Trump in his attempt to overturn the election results.

Clark was introduced to Trump by Republican congressman Scott Perry.

In late December 2020 Clark urged acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, his deputy Richard Donoghue, and other top Justice Department officials to have the Department announce it was investigating serious election fraud issues.

They rejected the suggestion; Rosen and his predecessor William Barr had resisted pressure from Trump to interfere with or cast doubt on the election results.

On December 28, 2020, Clark emailed Rosen and Donoghue a draft letter which he reportedly had discussed with Perry, requesting they sign it.