Jeffrey Clark testifies his client was Donald Trump: 'A problem for both of them'

Former Justice department official Jeffrey Clark Wednesday asserted that his client was Donald Trump when he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election from within.

At a disciplinary hearing before the D.C. Bar, Committeewoman Patricia Matthews noted that Clark had repeatedly cited attorney-client privilege in refusing to answer questions.

"Mr. Clark, you asserted a number of times attorney-client privilege," Matthews said. "For whom were you the attorney?"

"For President Trump, the head of the executive branch, the sole head, the unitary head of Article Two, the executive branch of the United States government," Clark replied.

At that point, Clark's attorney, Harry MacDougald, urged his client to use his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

"I would respectfully request my client to invoke questions about the basis for attorney-client privilege because those answers would be intimidating to them as well," MacDougald said. "So respectfully, I would ask him to invoke."

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Matthews asked the question again, and Clark followed his attorney's advice.

"So I would respond to that by invoking the same grouping of privileges, with all due respect: the Fifth Amendment at this time, the executive privilege, the law enforcement privilege, the deliberative process privilege, and the attorney-client privilege," Clark said.

Legal expert Marcy Wheeler said Clark's answer was a problem for Trump and himself.

"That ... seems to pose a problem, for both of them," she observed.

Law professor Anthony Michael Kreis agreed.

"Either Jeff Clark doesn't understand how attorney-client privilege works in the DOJ ~or~ he was moonlighting as Trump's personal attorney outside the scope of his office and not in furtherance of any official acts but wielding the color of office for campaign purposes. Hmmm," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

NBC's Ryan J. Reilly argued that Clark had come up with the wrong answer.

"Correct answer there for a (former) Justice Department attorney: your client is the United States of America!" Reilly noted.

Watch the video below from the D.C. Bar or click here.