Meadows becomes the White House channel for pressure to elevate Jeffrey Clark

Date: 2020-12-26
Entry type: justice-department-pressure
Current status: Clark was not installed after Justice Department leadership threatened mass resignation

Scott Perry urged Meadows to move Clark into Justice Department leadership as Clark prepared a false election letter.

Entities and roles

Donald J. TrumpWhite House chief of staffMark Meadows
politicaldocumented1 sourceCited claim 1

factdocumented
Between December 26 and 28, Representative Scott Perry repeatedly pressed Meadows to elevate Jeffrey Clark, emphasizing the shrinking time before January 6. Clark had bypassed Justice Department contact rules and was preparing a letter falsely claiming the department had significant election concerns. Meadows replied that he would work on the deputy position. The episode tied White House staffing power to pressure on law enforcement's election findings.
- United States Government Publishing Office: Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States CapitolExecutive Summary pages 49–53 and Chapter 4: Perry-Meadows texts, Clark contacts, and false draft letter