Donald Trump Co-Defendant Jeffrey Clark Admits He Was Acting Under Then-President's Orders in Georgia Election Case

Donald Trump co-defendant Jeffrey Clark is trying to get a judge to transfer his case from Georgia to a federal court. To do this, his lawyer told a judge that he was acting under then-President Donald Trump's orders while still working for the Department of Justice.

Clark drafted a letter to top Georgia officials where he declared that the DOJ had reason to doubt the legitimacy of the state's election. However, he also admitted that he was pressed to write this letter by Trump himself, his lawyer told a federal judge.

Clark was indicted alongside Trump as one of the 19 defendants in the Fulton County, Georgia RICO case. His lawyer, Harry MacDougald, argued that his client was acting under his federal capacity to change the election results. Therefore, it must be moved to a court.

"They say he was acting outside of his lane," MacDougald told US District Judge Steve C. Jones. "The president put it in his lane."

However, the judge seems wary of the claim as he asked the attorney for evidence that Trump had directed Clark to write and send the letter to Georgia officials.

The Washington Post noted that MacDougald was not able to give the judge the evidence he was asking for and even appeared to be uncertain when the judge asked him if the letter was written after Clark allegedly had a meeting with Trump and several other senior Justice Department officials.

The lawyer did tell the judge about how Clark drafted the letter in his office at the DOJ and used his government email to send the document, arguing that it would have been impossible for his client to do what he was told to do if he were not acting as a federal official under the orders of the president.

Donald Trump Co-Defendant Jeffrey Clark Not Present at the Hearing

As for Jeffrey Clark himself, the former Department of Justice environmental lawyer was notably absent during the hearing for his attempt to transfer jurisdiction to a federal court.

Clark waived his right to appear at the hearing, which was held on Monday. He did file a "declaration" where he tried to explain that his actions in question were undertaken in his capacity as a federal officer, so this means that his case should fall under federal jurisdiction.

However, Judge Jones seemed skeptical and, according to CNN, even seemed frustrated with Clark's lawyer. The judge even told the lawyer that he would not accept a sworn statement from Clark as evidence in the case.

As the judge was asking one of Clark's attorneys some probing questions, Trump attorney Steve Sadow was heard whispering, "This is not good."

Donald Trump Co-Defendant Jeffrey Clark Had Limited Federal Authority, Argued Prosecutors

While Clark argued that he was merely acting under his authority as a federal official, prosecutors argued that even though he was a federal official, the division he was under had "limited authority," especially in matters concerning the elections.

Clark was part of the civil division as an environmental lawyer. Jody Hunt, who served as the assistant attorney general of the civil division until mid-2020, testified, "In my experience, it is not the role of the civil division to engage" in matters regarding election fraud.

Clark's lawyers tried to push back on these claims, claiming he had the authority since it was the president himself who asked him to.

Previously, Mark Meadows tried to transfer his case to federal jurisdiction, arguing that he was acting under his capacity as Chief of Staff. The judge found that this was not part of his duties and shot down the Trump ally's request.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Coup bomb goes off as Trump and aides literally admit anti-democracy agenda: Melber breakdown - MSNBC