Former Trump official attempted a 'coup' at the DOJ: ethics counsel

A Washington ethics lawyer took aim at a former senior official in the U.S. Justice Department during the Trump administration, saying he tried to use the DOJ to help Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election results.

In his opening argument during a disciplinary hearing for Jeffrey Clark, the District of Columbia Bar's Hamilton "Phil" Fox said Clark essentially was attempting to orchestrate "a coup at the Department of Justice," Reuters reported.

Clark is facing the potential loss of his law license and must undergo a multi-day hearing on ethics charges that accuse him of actions that "involving dishonesty" that "seriously interfere with the administration of justice."

But according to Clark, he's being targeted "because I am a Trump supporter who questioned the 2020 election."

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Clark also happens to be one of Trump's co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case and is listed as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the federal case. In December of 2020, he wrote a letter to Georgia officials falsely claiming the Justice Department had "identified significant concerns" regarding voter fraud in the state. But the DOJ found no evidence for his claims and refused to send the letter.

According to a report from Bloomberg, several Republican lawyers and two House members could be called in to testify at the hearing this week. Clark's prospective witness list includes Mark Meadows, who served as Trump’s White House chief of staff, as well as Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Scott Perry (R-PA). Also potentially appearing as a witness is Edwin Meese, a well-known GOP lawyer who was U.S. Attorney General during the Reagan Administration.

Fox's witness list includes Jeffrey Rosen, the former acting attorney general in the Trump administration; Richard Donoghue, Rosen’s acting deputy; ex-White House lawyer Patrick Philbin; and former Justice Department senior counsel Ken Klukowski.