Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis took down Mark Meadows’s attempt to have his racketeering case removed to federal court, and now she’s going after Jeff Clark, the one-time Justice Department environmental lawyer who claimed Trump named him acting attorney general, who is also attempting to have his trial in a federal court. Clark’s argument–that he was acting “under color” of his official government position–is fundamentally flawed, per Willis. The emphasis is Fani’s.
In short, the defendant sought to peddle a lie and place the imprimatur of the Department of Justice upon that lie. He was told by the chief officers of the DOJ that his claim was a lie, that he did not have authority to make the claim at all, and that it was not the DOJ’s role to make such a claim, but he persisted in attempting to send the letter containing his claim anyway. Although the defendant exceeded the scope of his own authority and the authority of the entire Department of Justice, he argues to this Court that he was somehow acting under color of office and taking actions that were necessary and proper to his duties. The defendant’s claims, like the one central to his letter, are baseless, and the State of Georgia respectfully requests that this Court refuse to authorize the removal of this case.