Jeffrey Clark

Jeffrey Bossert Clark (born April 17, 1967) is an American lawyer. Previously a partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, he was confirmed as United States Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division on October 11, 2018 and was additionally appointed the acting head of the United States Department of Justice Civil Division in September 2020.

Education

Clark was born in Philadelphia. He graduated from Harvard University, cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and Russian/Soviet history in 1989. In 1993, he received a Master of Arts, summa cum laude, from the University of Delaware in urban affairs and public policy. At Georgetown University Law Center, from which he received a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, in 1995, Clark was articles editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.

Career

After graduating from law school, Clark clerked for Judge Danny J. Boggs of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Clark joined Kirkland & Ellis as a lawyer in 1996. He has been with the firm since then, excepting a period of service from 2001 to 2005 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". From 2012 to 2015, he was an elected member of the Governing Council of the American Bar Association's Administrative Law Section.

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.

Views on regulating greenhouse gasses

Clark has opposed regulation of greenhouse gasses. Clark characterized US efforts to regulate greenhouse gasses as “reminiscent of kind of a Leninistic program from the 1920s to seize control of the commanding heights of the economy.” Regarding the 2010 EPA finding on greenhouse gas emissions, Clark wrote in a blog: Vorlage:Quote

Attempts to overturn results of 2020 presidential election

Vorlage:Seealso Two days after the Trump administration ended, The New York Times reported that Clark was involved in an effort by Trump to replace the acting Attorney General of the United States Jeffrey Rosen with Clark, who would then pressure Georgia election officials to further Trump's attempts to interfere with the certification of election results. Rosen had previously resisted pressure from Trump to interfere. Clark told Rosen and other top Justice Department officials that the Department should announce it was investigating serious election fraud issues, which Rosen and his deputy Richard Donoghue rejected, as the Department had previously determined there was no significant fraud. Both men were unaware that Clark had met with Trump, and Clark later told Rosen that Trump intended to appoint him to replace Rosen. Rosen, Donoghue and head of the OLC Steven Engel agreed they would all resign if Rosen was removed. After meeting with Trump at the White House, the President backed away from the plan.

External links

• Department of Justice biography