Trump official Jeffrey Clark likely violated ethics rules with 2020 election theories, D.C. Bar panel finds

WASHINGTON — The disciplinary panel of the D.C. Bar reached a preliminary conclusion that former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark committed an ethical violation when he pushed conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, including the allegation that the election was stolen via smart thermostats.

Clark, an environmental lawyer with no experience in criminal law, was the man former President Donald Trump considering naming as acting attorney general of the United States just days before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump ultimately backed down after his own Justice Department appointees told him there would be mass resignations if he went through with the move.

Clark faces potential disbarment and testified over the last two weeks before the panel, repeatedly asserting his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Thursday’s preliminary finding will be considered by the D.C. Bar’s full board of professional responsibility before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals makes a final ruling on Clark’s bar status.

The question the disciplinary panel had to address, at its core, was this: Was Clark pushing ridiculous conspiracy theories about mass voter fraud in bad faith, so he could help usher Trump to a second term? Or is it possible that Clark truly believed the conspiracy theories he was peddling?

Hamilton Fox, the disciplinary counsel arguing for Clark's disbarment, made the case Thursday during closing arguments that it was not possible for a person like Clark to believe those election lies because they had been repeatedly disproven.

“He had no rational basis to believe it,” Fox argued. “I can’t look in somebody’s mind, but when somebody tells you something repeatedly, in which