{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-to-garland-terminate-doj-official-who-committed-perjury", "Cotton, Colleagues to Garland: Terminate DOJ Official Who Committed Perjury", "2024-07-12", "2024", "2024-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or Patrick McCann (202) 224-2353\n\nJuly 12, 2024\n\nCotton, Colleagues to Garland: Terminate DOJ Official Who Committed Perjury\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) led nine of his Senate Judiciary Committee colleagues today in sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging him to terminate Kristen Clarke, the Department of Justice\u2019s (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. The senators detailed how Ms. Clarke committed perjury during the nomination process for her current role by lying to Congress.\n\nSenators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), and John Cornyn (R-Texas) co-signed the letter.\n\nIn part, the senators wrote:\n\n\u201cDuring her nomination to her current role, Ms. Clarke was asked if she had \u2018ever been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime against any person.\u2019 Ms. Clarke was unequivocal, responding under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee, \u2018No.\u2019 That was a lie. Ms. Clarke has now admitted that she was arrested in 2006 for attacking and injuring someone with a knife. It has also recently come to light that, shortly before the full Senate voted on her nomination, Ms. Clarke and her publicist contacted the man she attacked in an attempt to cover up her false testimony.\u201d\n\nFull text of the letter may be found here and below.\n\nJuly 12, 2024\n\nThe Honorable Merrick Garland\n\nU.S. Department of Justice\n\n950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW\n\nWashington, DC 20530-0001\n\nDear Attorney General Garland,\n\nI write regarding an act of perjury committed by Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. I call for Ms. Clarke\u2019s immediate termination and removal from office.\n\nDuring her nomination to her current role, Ms. Clarke was asked if she had \u201cever been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime against any person.\u201d Ms. Clarke was unequivocal, responding under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee, \u201cNo.\u201d That was a lie. Ms. Clarke has now admitted that she was arrested in 2006 for attacking and injuring someone with a knife. It has also recently come to light that, shortly before the full Senate voted on her nomination, Ms. Clarke and her publicist contacted the man she attacked in an attempt to cover up her false testimony.\n\nLying to Congress under oath is a felony.\n\nThe last time you were before the Senate Judiciary Committee, you said, \u201cThe integrity of our legal system is premised on adherence to the rule of law. In order to have confidence in our Department and in our democracy, the American people must be able to trust that we will adhere to the rule of law in everything that we do.\u201d Ms. Clarke does not meet this standard and must be immediately terminated.\n\nThank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:24:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-to-garland-terminate-doj-official-who-committed-perjury"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7941590156406164, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}