Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke admitted that at her Senate confirmation process in 2021 she chose not to disclose her arrest.
The Daily Signal reported Tuesday that Ms. Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, was arrested for a domestic violence dispute in July 2006 while living in Maryland with her husband.
Ms. Clarke’s ex-husband, Reginald Avery, told the American Accountability Foundation in 2021 that she sliced his finger “to the bone” with a knife. The charges against her were ultimately dropped, and she filed paperwork to get the incident expunged from her record.
When Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, asked Ms. Clarke in a written questionnaire during her confirmation hearing if she had been “arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime against any person,” she responded “no.”
In a statement to CNN Wednesday, she tried to explain why she said she hadn’t been arrested.
“Nearly two decades ago, I was subjected to yearslong abuse and domestic violence at the hands of my ex-husband,” she said in the statement.
“This was a terrorizing and traumatizing period that I have sought to put behind me to promote my personal health, healing and well-being,” she added. “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.”
She said she has chosen not to “speak about such traumatic incidents” in her life when she’s had the opportunity.
“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,” she said.
Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, has called on Ms. Clarke to resign, saying she lied under oath at her confirmation.
“Kristen Clarke is in charge of enforcing civil rights laws. She enforces those laws aggressively against anyone who sneezes near an abortion clinic,” he said. “And not at all against those who vandalize churches.”
Ms. Clarke has not said anything about resigning.
“As I have done at every stage of my career as a lifelong public servant, I will continue working to ensure that we carry out our work in a way that centers the experiences and needs of crime victims,” she said in her statement.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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