The leader of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, Kristen Clarke, said in an extraordinary personal statement shared with CNN that she was a victim of years-long domestic abuse and chose not to disclose an expunged arrest record from that period during the Senate confirmation process.
Clarke’s now-expunged arrest, which reportedly occurred during a domestic dispute, quickly became a cause célèbre among right-wing media and lawmakers who claim she lied during her 2021 Senate confirmation hearing, with some calling for her resignation.
“Nearly 2 decades ago, I was subjected to years-long abuse and domestic violence at the hands of my ex-husband,” Clarke wrote in the statement on Wednesday.
“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,” Clarke said.
In a written questionnaire from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton for the record before her Senate confirmation, Clarke answered “no” to a question asking whether, “since becoming a legal adult, have you ever been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime against any person?”
Clarke acknowledged that she was arrested in her statement on Wednesday but said the arrest was expunged – meaning it was removed from her record and no longer exists – and that she wasn’t required to disclose it.
“When given the option to speak about such traumatic incidents in my life, I have chosen not to,” Clarke wrote. “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.”
