NLPC Counsel Paul Kamenar joined eight other attorneys in an Amicus Curiae, also known as a “friend of the court” brief, arguing against the disbarment of former Justice Department official Jeff Clark (in photo) by the D.C. Bar. Click here to download the brief.
On July 31, 2025, the Bar’s Board on Professional Responsibility recommended Clark’s disbarment. He stands accused of making “false” statements while Assistant Attorney General in late 2020 and early 2021 in a proposed letter to Georgia election officials about election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
The letter was never sent, and the D.C. Bar repeatedly conceded that Clark had a “sincere belief” that election fraud had occurred. It is the accusation that is false, apparently resulting from partisan motives by the D.C. Bar.
The next and final step is review by the D.C. Court of Appeals, which has ultimate authority over all attorney discipline in the District of Columbia. The Board’s recommendation is not binding. the Court can accept, reject, or modify it.
Despite the political attack on Clark, he is an extremely capable and well-respected lawyer. He is currently the “regulatory czar” of the Trump administration, serving as Acting Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget.
The other attorneys joining the Amicus are:
- Mark Chenoweth- President and Chief Legal Officer, New Civil Liberties Alliance
- Margot Cleveland- Of Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
- Aram Gavoor
- Philip Hamburger- Professor, Columbia University Law School; CEO, New Civil
- Liberties Alliance
- Richard A. Samp- civil litigator with a focus on First Amendment rights
- Joseph E. Schmitz- Joseph E. Schmitz, PLLC
- Ilya Shapiro- Director of Constitutional Studies, Manhattan Institute
- Andreia Trifoi- Staff Attorney, New Civil Liberties Alliance
This “barfare” case against Clark is receiving significant attention. In a separate Amicus, three former Attorneys General — Bill Barr, Jeff Sessions and Michael Mukasey — characterized the action as “political retribution.”
According to Kamenar:
The D.C. Bar is weaponizing their lawyer disciplinary powers by trying to disbar Clark for drafting a letter that was never sent regarding the irregularities of the 2020 election, yet gives a slap on the wrist of FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith who was found guilty of a felony for altering a CIA email used to get a surveillance warrant on a Trump campaign advisor. This kind of barfare that infringes on lawyers’ First Amendment rights needs to stop.
Clinesmith received a mere one-year suspension of his law license, a less severe sanction than that proposed for Clark. Clinesmith is today in “good standing” with the D.C. Bar. In the Clinesmith criminal case in 2021, Kamenar filed a sentencing memorandum urging incarceration. The government requested three-to-six-month prison sentence, but Judge James E. Boasberg sentenced him to community service and imposed no fine.
