Deposition delayed for Trump DOJ official in Jan. 6 probe

Former Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) official Jeffrey Clark has secured a delay for his deposition, initially scheduled for Saturday, due to a medical issue, postponing his effort to plead the Fifth Amendment and avoid criminal prosecution for contempt of Congress.

The move delays the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as it was poised to forward a resolution to censure Clark for failure to comply with a subpoena.

"Through his attorney, Mr. Clark has informed the Select Committee of a medical condition that precludes his participation in tomorrow's meeting and he has provided ample evidence of his claim. Chairman Thompson has agreed to postpone the deposition until December 16th. Chairman Thompson wishes Mr. Clark well," committee spokesman Tim Mulvey said in a statement.

Clark appears to have been a central figure in Trump's pressure campaign to get the DOJ to investigate his baseless claims of election fraud, advocating in favor of sending a letter to states like Georgia encouraging them to delay certification of their election results.

The last-minute rescheduling comes after Clark's lawyer told the committee he would like to exercise his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination the eve before the committee was set to forward his contempt report.

The committee said Clark was in defiance of their subpoena when he sat for a November deposition but largely failed to answer questions.

The House Rules Committee has already held a hearing on the resolution to censure Clark to enable swift House action if the committee deems his second deposition to still be in defiance of their subpoena.