Jeffrey Clark Bid to Move Discipline Case to Fed Court Shot Down

Trump administration lawyer Jeffrey Clark’s bid to move his disciplinary proceedings to federal court were blocked by an appellate panel Friday.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in an unpublished opinion upheld a district court ruling that barred Clark’s request to remove his case to federal court. While the district court focused its ruling on federal versus state jurisdiction, the appellate court decided Clark’s request was moot because it was submitted past its 30-day deadline.

Clark, a former US assistant attorney general in the Trump administration, argued that attorneys for the government cannot be regulated by state courts, because the District of Columbia is not technically a state, leaving DOJ lawyers subject to federal disciplinary authority reviewable only in federal court.

DC Bar officials wrote in a disciplinary filing late April that disbarment is the “only possible sanction” for Clark’s actions. The filing came nearly a month after a three-person Bar panel decided Clark violated professional conduct rules by engaging in dishonest acts that would “seriously interfere” with the administration of justice.

The appellate panel was comprised of Cornelia Pillard, Gregory Katsas and Bradley Garcia.

“Even were such a bar disciplinary proceeding otherwise eligible for removal under either the federal-officer or general removal statute, Disciplinary Counsel timely and accurately objected in the district court that Clark’s notice of removal was untimely,” the per curiam opinion noted. “That suffices to defeat his removal of his disciplinary proceeding.”

If Clark loses his legal license, it could hurt his chances to join the Department of Justice under a potential second Trump term. His lawyer, Harry MacDougald, said the team is “disappointed” in the panel’s decision and plans to seek review by the full court.

“Today’s ruling is based only on jurisdiction. Thus, it could not and did not properly issue rulings on the facts,” MacDougald said in an emailed statement Friday.

The DC Bar declined to comment.

Clark in late 2020 attempted to get top Justice Department officials to send a letter to the Georgia state legislature improperly questioning the presidential election’s outcome, the DC Bar’s disciplinary counsel said. The letter “contained multiple false or misleading statements, including that DOJ had identified evidence of fraud or irregularities in the 2020 election and that the letter reflected DOJ’s conclusions about Georgia law.”

The disciplinary counsel, appointed by the bar’s Board on Professional Responsibility, is the chief prosecutor on lawyer discipline cases. The counsel will continue Clark’s proceedings in state legal systems, where the Board will review the case and then pass it back to the DC Court of Appeals.

The case is In re: Jeffrey Clark, D.C. Cir., No. 23-07073, 7/12/24.