Jan. 6 Panel Seeks Contempt Charge for Jeffrey Clark

WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot moved connected Wednesday to clasp Jeffrey Clark successful transgression contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with its inquiry, but agreed to hold a House ballot connected the substance arsenic the erstwhile Justice Department lawyer made an 11th-hour connection to beryllium interviewed again.

The sheet voted unanimously to urge charging Mr. Clark, who had pressed his colleagues astatine the Justice Department to prosecute President Donald J. Trump’s predetermination fraud claims, aft helium refused to reply immoderate questions oregon nutrient immoderate documents astatine a deposition with its investigators past month.

The ballot paved the mode for the afloat House to determination rapidly to telephone connected the Justice Department to prosecute Mr. Clark for his refusal to cooperate with the panel’s subpoena. But soon earlier the committee met to o.k. it, Mr. Clark had requested a hold of the proceedings, offering to beryllium down with the sheet again.

Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the committee’s chairman, said it would determination guardant with the contempt referral anyway, calling Mr. Clark’s entreaty “a last-ditch effort to delay.”

“The prime committee has nary tendency to beryllium placed successful this situation, but Mr. Clark has near america nary different choice,” Mr. Thompson added. “He chose this path. He knew what consequences helium mightiness look if helium did so. This committee and this House indispensable importune connected accountability successful the look of that benignant of defiance.”

But helium announced that the sheet had acceptable different deposition for Mr. Clark connected Saturday, and that it would not question a House ballot connected the contempt complaint until investigators had determined whether helium was consenting to cooperate.

It was not instantly wide to what grade Mr. Clark planned to bash so. In a missive to the sheet connected Tuesday, helium offered a caller rationale for refusing to reply questions, asserting his Fifth Amendment close against self-incrimination. Mr. Thompson said Mr. Clark would beryllium permitted to invoke that close “on a question-by-question basis” during the upcoming interview.

The past clip the committee’s investigators sat down with Mr. Clark, they had a agelong database of questions astir his relation successful trying to assistance Mr. Trump invalidate his 2020 predetermination defeat.

They wanted to inquire Mr. Clark astir a nationalist quality briefing helium had sought astir a chaotic mentation that China could hack voting machines done thermostats. They planned to property him astir a missive helium had projected penning to legislative officials successful Georgia, urging them to enactment guardant an alternate slate of electors for Mr. Trump, alternatively of President Biden, who had won the state. And they wanted to excavation into immoderate conversations helium mightiness person had with a radical of Mr. Trump’s allies who had gathered astatine a Washington, D.C., edifice successful the days earlier the riot to program the effort to overturn the election.

Mr. Clark offered nary answers.

“We volition not beryllium answering immoderate questions oregon producing immoderate documents,” Mr. Clark’s lawyer, Harry W. MacDougald, said flatly.

The ballot was the 2nd specified confrontation betwixt the committee and an state of Mr. Trump since Congress began investigating the circumstances surrounding the Capitol riot, including the erstwhile president’s attempts to subvert the election.

The House voted successful October to urge that different of Mr. Trump’s associates, Stephen K. Bannon, be charged with transgression contempt of Congress for stonewalling the inquiry. A national expansive assemblage subsequently indicted him connected 2 counts that could transportation a full of up to 2 years down bars.

A 3rd recalcitrant witness, Mark Meadows, a White House main of unit nether Mr. Trump, reached an statement with the committee connected Tuesday to supply documents and look voluntarily for a deposition. It is simply a notable reversal for a important witnesser successful the inquiry, though it is not wide however overmuch accusation helium volition beryllium consenting to provide.

The committee has interviewed much than 200 witnesses and issued 45 subpoenas. On Tuesday, the sheet heard 5 hours of closed-door grounds from Georgia’s caput of state, Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who pushed backmost against Mr. Trump’s attempts to overturn the predetermination results there.

Some of the panel’s astir sought-after witnesses, including Mr. Meadows; Dan Scavino Jr., a erstwhile lawman main of staff; and Kash Patel, a erstwhile Pentagon main of staff, are scheduled to testify, Mr. Thompson said.

Understand the Claim of Executive Privilege successful the Jan. 6. Inquiry

Under national law, immoderate idiosyncratic summoned arsenic a legislature witnesser who refuses to comply tin look a misdemeanor complaint that carries a good of $100 to $100,000 and a jailhouse condemnation of 1 period to 1 year.

In rebuffing the committee’s October subpoena, Mr. Clark said his conversations with Mr. Trump were protected by attorney-client privilege and the erstwhile president’s assertion of enforcement privilege.

Mr. MacDougald told the committee past period that helium and Mr. Clark interpreted enforcement privilege to screen conversations and documents that did not impact Mr. Trump.

“The privileges that are nether the wide umbrella of enforcement privilege are numerous,” Mr. MacDougald said.

He besides cited instrumentality enforcement privilege and deliberative process privilege. “There are immoderate number,” helium added.

Mr. Trump has filed suit against the committee, seeking to artifact its entree to hundreds of White House documents, though a national appeals tribunal connected Tuesday appeared skeptical of his claim that helium has the powerfulness to artifact the panel’s request for White House records related to the onslaught connected the Capitol.

The Biden medication has declined to asseverate privilege implicit the documents, arguing that nary specified extortion should beryllium afforded to worldly that could shed airy connected a president’s attempts to undermine a antiauthoritarian election.