Kristen Clarke, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, has conceded that she lied under oath during her Senate confirmation process about an arrest expunged from her record that was connected to some domestic troubles while she was married.
Clarke’s admission comes a day after The Daily Signal reported its discovery of some court documents and text messages that confirm she was arrested after an intense domestic dispute with her ex-husband, Reginald Avery, almost 18 years ago.
According to the outlet, Avery told Tom Jones, the head of the American Accountability Foundation, that Clarke attacked him with a knife in July 2006, deeply slicing his finger to the bone, after she learned he was having an affair.
The American Accountability Foundation is a far-right government oversight group that has opposed nominees to President Joe Biden’s administration. Avery didn’t tell Jones about the 2006 dispute with Clarke until 2021 — the same year Clarke was nominated by Biden for the DOJ position.
A criminal case was opened against Clarke in 2006 but was dismissed without a trial. More than a year later, Clarke submitted a request to expunge the arrest from her record.
During her confirmation hearing, she was asked if she’d “ever been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime against any person,” to which she responded, “No.”
Clarke sent a statement to CNN on Wednesday that offered a close, personal glimpse into an extremely personal and turbulent time in her life.
“Nearly 2 decades ago, I was subjected to years-long abuse and domestic violence at the hands of my ex-husband,” Clarke wrote. “This was a terrorizing and traumatizing period that I have sought to put behind me to promote my personal health, healing and well-being. The physical and emotional scars, the emotional abuse and exploitation, and the lying are things that no woman or mother should ever have to endure.”
Clarke said that when given the option to speak about those traumatic incidents in her life, she chose not to, citing that she wasn’t required to disclose the arrest.
“I didn’t believe during my confirmation process, and I don’t believe now that I was obligated to share a fully expunged matter from my past,” Clarke stated.
Congressman Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah, called for Clarke to step down in light of her confession.
“She lied under oath during her confirmation proceedings and should resign,” the senator wrote on X.
Several people have come to Clarke’s defense and criticized those calling for her resignation.
Lee has openly endorsed the Republican presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump, who is presently facing over 90 felony counts, according to The Associated Press.
“Whether you like Trump or not, Americans face a binary choice,” Lee wrote in a post to X, as reported by Politico.
Clarke’s ex-husband commented on her statement, telling The Daily Signal he never physically abused Clarke when they were married and called her admission “a sad and pathetic effort to make herself a victim, and is revealing of her character.”
Court records show Clarke’s divorce from Avery was finalized in 2009.
Clarke stated that while she is the Civil Rights Division chief, she “will continue working to ensure that we carry out our work in a way that centers the experiences and needs of crime victims.”
