The House Jan. 6 committee has unanimously (9-0) recommended holding Jeffrey Clark, a senior Justice Department official under ex-President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress.
Clark, the former acting head of the Justice Department’s civil division, was a proponent of Trump’s claim his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden in the November 2020 election was the result of election fraud.
The committee voted Wednesday evening to recommend the full House vote on Clark being held in contempt of Congress.
A House vote to do so would refer the matter to federal prosecutors, who would decide whether to bring a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $100,000.
The Jan. 6 committee issued a subpoena Oct. 13 to Clark asking him to produce records and testify at a deposition by Oct. 29. The panel has issued at least three dozen subpoenas and received testimony from more than 200 witnesses.
Clark’s testimony was later delayed because he had changed attorneys.
Trump has urged his former aides to disregard the select committee’s subpoenas.
Trump’s longtime adviser Steve Bannon pleaded not guilty this month to criminal charges that he defied a subpoena from the Select Committee after he was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress.
