Attorneys for Jeffrey Clark are asking Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee (pictured above, left) to dismiss the charges against their client in a filing on Wednesday. District Attorney Fani Willis charged Clark in her sweeping racketeering case against former President Donald Trump.
At the time of the 2020 election, Clark was the acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. After the election, Clark twice attempted to send a document expressing concerns about possible election malfeasance in battleground states. Willis claims Clark’s unsuccessful attempts to send this document were illegal, and even though Clark had no contact with Georgians during the 2020 election contest, his efforts constitute a violation of the Georgia RICO Act and a criminal attempt to commit false statements and writings.
Because Clark (pictured above, left) had no contact with any Georgia official, including his co-defendants, never sent his letter, and never visited Georgia during his time working for the Trump administration, his lawyers argue “[t]here is zero allegation or evidence that Mr. Clark directed any purposeful activity into the State of Georgia.”
“It gets worse,” his lawyers argue, adding that “there are zero specific allegations or evidence that Mr. Clark agreed with any resident defendant to do anything.” Because he took no direct action to contest the election, Clark’s lawyers say Willis wants to “punish a thought crime,” and Willis’ claim that “all defendants conspired to unlawfully overturn the 2020 election is not sufficient” for Clark to be included.
In addition to his lawyers’ filing requesting immediate dismissal, Clark submitted a signed affidavit that confirms he is a resident of Virginia and had no personal or business contact with his Georgian co-defendants during the 2020 election contest.
Citing his lack of concrete actions, Clark’s attorneys charge that Willis’ indictment “rests on a dogmatic premise that the election of President Biden was free of material irregularity and that any thought, expression, or conduct of the Defendants to the contrary was necessarily wrongful and criminal, and thus constituted a massive (though on its face preposterous) Georgia RICO conspiracy.”
They also cite Willis’ office decision to “ritualistically” repeat the phrase “despite the fact that … Trump lost” 15 times throughout her August indictment, “as if it were a sacerdotal refrain drawn from some ancient holy book if indisputable law and fact,” as they seemed to highlight the political implications of the case.
“Using the criminal law to punish opinions or otherwise lawful political activities deviating from a State’s orthodoxy is a feature of dictatorships,” which the attorneys argue “now marks out and mars this District Attorney’s Office.”
Clark has yet to receive his first hearing for the Fulton County case, though McAfee scheduled a hearing for a series of motions adopted by Trump on December 1. It remains unclear if the former president plans to personally make an appearance in Fulton County.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News, and also reports for The Tennessee Star and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
