During her 2021 confirmation hearing, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke was asked by Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton if she had ever been arrested.

While the then-nominee said she had not, it has since been revealed that Clarke was once taken into custody over an alleged knife attack. 

Ex-husband recalls how Clarke came at him with a knife

According to the New York Post, the incident took place at her Maryland home in 2006 and involved her ex-husband Reginald Avery.

The Daily Signal produced messages Avery sent to the American Accountability Foundation recalling how his finger was "sliced to the bone."

"I was seeing another woman," Avery explained. "She was angry. Attacked me with a knife. I instinctively grabbed it. As I said earlier, I’m not blameless."

The Daily Signal noted that while Clarke was arrested, the charges were ultimately dropped and she had the matter expunged from her record.

Official says she wasn't "obligated to share a fully expunged matter"

For her part, Clarke addressed the controversy in a statement provided to CNN on Wednesday, saying, "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," she continued.

"When given the option to speak about such traumatic incidents in my life, I have chosen not to," the Biden administration official acknowledged.

Clarke concluded by stating, "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."

GOP senator calls for Clarke's resignation

The Post noted that Clarke's admission now has some Republicans calling on her to step down from her role at the Department of Justice.

They include Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who wrote in a social media post that "Kristen Clarke is in charge of enforcing civil rights laws. She enforces those laws aggressively against anyone who sneezes near an abortion clinic."