According to Reginald Avery,  Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department allegedly contacted her ex-husband in May 2021 and requested a statement denying that she was a domestic abuser. 

This was all part of a confirmation process in which Clarke omitted information about her prior incarceration, according to The Daily Signal.

Given that Clarke had opted not to reveal her 2006 arrest for domestic violence while she was nominated for a high-ranking job in the Department of Justice, the revelation is all the more noteworthy. Her current position is that of assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

Questions from Lawmakers

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and others have called for her resignation after an April 30 article in The Daily Signal disclosed the existence of the arrest and its subsequent expungement.

“Kristen Clarke is in charge of enforcing civil rights laws,” said Lee on April 30. “She enforces those laws aggressively against anyone who sneezes near an abortion clinic. And not at all against those who vandalize churches. She lied under oath during her confirmation proceedings, and should resign.”

Just days before her official confirmation, new claims surfaced suggesting that Clarke sought assistance from her ex-husband in managing the possible publicity surrounding her detention.

Avery: Clarke Asked for a Report

Clarke allegedly contacted Avery in May 2021 while her publicist was on the line, as rumblings about a possible arrest in her past began to circulate.

At one point, Clarke allegedly requested Avery to sign a statement stating that she was not involved in domestic violence.

The Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearing for Clarke, scheduled for April 14, 2021, has already occurred. Her "responses for the record" had previously been sent to federal lawmakers.

That encompasses her response to the following question posed by Republican Tom Cotton of Arkansas: "Since becoming a legal adult, have you ever been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime against any person?"

“No,” Clarke responded.

Detailed Correspondence

Avery claims that on May 19, 2021, he emailed Clothilde Ewing, the publicist for his ex-wife, at Clarke's urging. "Kristen Clarke was not an abuser in our relationship," read the email he posted with The Daily Signal.

Although Avery testified that she was detained for allegedly stabbing him with a knife in 2006, Clarke ultimately decided not to publicly use his comments.

Avery was accused by Clarke of being a domestic abuser earlier this month, following the release of The Daily Signal's exposé. However, Clarke maintained that she had not publicized the arrest.

Clarke and Ewing (who did not react to comment requests) wanted Avery to tell The Daily Signal that Clarke was not "the" abuser in their relationship, according to Avery. Rather than saying "the," he opted to use "an" to avoid coming across as an abuser, he revealed.

Since Avery and Clarke have a son together, who is now 19 years old, Avery expressed his desire to finally put the issue to rest. At the time, he believed that conservatives were engaging in underhanded attacks against Clarke, and he hoped that his remark would "bring closure to the whole thing." The phone call from 2021 is not on his record.