First Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark has served nearly 29 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the Department of Justice. He is to continue serving in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Maine as the interim Chief Federal Law Enforcement Official until a successor has been appointed and confirmed by President-elect Joe Biden and the Senate, respectively. Don Clark temporarily replaces the outgoing U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank. The Biden Administration has requested the latter to step down and vacate his post during an announcement delivered by Acting U.S. Attorney General Robert M. Wilkinson on February 9, 2021. U.S. Attorney Frank responded to the call for the remaining 55 Trump-appointed U.S. Attorneys to step down by announcing his resignation on February 25, 2021. The changes in the highest position in the Office shall take effect by virtue of the Vacancies Reform Act, beginning on March 1, 2021. The appointment of Donald E. Clark as interim Top Federal Prosecutor for the District of Maine shall last for a 300-day term.
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Appointment
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark is to assume the highest position in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Maine, succeeding the stepping down of the outgoing U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank whose resignation was announced on February 25, 2021. Donald Clark is taking over in the Office as Chief Federal Law Enforcement Official pursuant to the Vacancies Reform Act, just as former U.S. Attorney Frank leaves the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Maine, in line with the announcement made by Acting U.S. Attorney General Robert M. Wilkinson on February 9, 2021. Acting U.S. Attorney General Monty Wilkinson delivered the request of President-elect Joe Biden for the remaining 55 U.S. Attorneys, who have previously been appointed by former President Donald Trump, to vacate their posts to allow a more straightforward process for the appointment of new U.S. Attorneys across the nation. The act as mentioned earlier is considered a tradition in the process of shifting to a new administration. Donald Clark’s appointment as the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maine shall take effect on March 1, 2021, and shall remain effective for the next 300 days. Until such time, the vacancy has been officially filled in by the Biden Administration.
Educational Background and Bar Admissions
Acting U.S. Attorney Donald Clark is a graduate of Harvard College, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1983. He subsequently graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Syracuse Law School and received his Juris Doctorate in 1987. U.S. Attorney Donald Clark has been granted admission to several State Bar Associations, including the New York State Bar since 1987, the District of Columbia Bar since 1989, and in the Maine State Bar Association, also since 1989. Moreover, Acting U.S. Attorney Clark has been authorized to practice law in the State of Virginia since 1968. He has kept an active membership in the Bar Associations of New York and Maine in February and March of 2021. U.S. Attorney Clark has recently retired from practicing law in the District of Columbia.
Legal Career
Launching his legal career, Acting U.S. Attorney Don Clark joined the Latham & Watkins, LLP in New York City and began his private practice career in 1987. The law firm offers clients advice across a wide spectrum of corporate, litigation, regulatory, and transactional areas. Also, it provides clients with innovative solutions to complex business and legal matters by putting forward Latham & Watkins’ internationally recognized practices.
U.S. Attorney Donald Clark began his long years of service in the government in 1992, when he launched his career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. After approximately three years of service in the Office, U.S. Attorney Clark moved to serve in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine in Portland’s Branch Office in 1995. From then onwards, U.S. Attorney Don Clark focused his legal career on being an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine. Overall, he has spent nearly three decades prosecuting federal crimes and forfeiture actions. Throughout his almost 26 years of service in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Maine, Acting U.S. Attorney Clark has held a number of leadership roles, including being appointed as the Office’s Senior Litigation Counsel, the Public Information Officer, and as an Asset Forfeiture Attorney.
Accomplishments as First Assistant U.S. Attorney
In September of 2019, Acting U.S. Attorney Clark was appointed as the First Assistant United States Attorney to former U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank. Donald Clark performed duties as second-in-command in the Office, managing and supervising the daily operations of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine. Within their two years of partnership as first and second-in-command in the Office, now Acting U.S. Attorney Clark and former U.S. Attorney Frank has accomplished various tasks, including leading federal efforts through the combat against the growing opioid crisis, the ever-increasing number of violent crime cases, and the pro-active work in the prevention of elder fraud. Apart from that, through their leadership, the Office has been able to develop and establish numerous projects and programs such as the revival of the Project Safe Neighborhoods, the creation of a liaison program to improve collaboration amongst law enforcement agencies in the district, the Disruption and Early Engagement Program, and the Project Guardian, among all other initiatives, set better to improve the Office’s service to the public.
Office Jurisdiction
Acting U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark is a veteran prosecutor with expertise in a variety of practice areas, including construction and development, guardianship, land use and zoning, litigation, and real estate. He has been performing duties as an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the Department of Justice for approximately 29 years and has led a number of initiatives and handled numerous cases throughout his almost three decades of service in the Office of the United States Attorney. As interim Top Federal Prosecutor for the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine, Acting U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark shall lead an office of 56 talented and dedicated Assistant U.S. Attorneys and support personnel. On top of that, he manages all of the criminal prosecutions and civil litigations within the district, such as cases of federal criminal violations involving public corruption, firearms, financial fraud, and narcotics, among others. In addition, U.S. Attorney Don Clark shall defend the interest of the United States and recovers debts owed to the United States.
Contact Details
Full Name: Donald E. Clark
District/State: Maine
Public email ID: Donald.clark@usdoj.gov
Portland Office
United States Attorney’s Office
100 Middle Street, East Tower, 6th Floor
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 780-3257
Main
(207) 780-3304
Fax
(207) 780-3060
TTY
Bangor Office
United States Attorney’s Office
202 Harlow Street, Room 111
Bangor, ME 04401
(207) 945-0373
Main
(207) 945-0319
Fax
(207) 945-0307
TTY
Social Media Profiles of Donald Clark
Username: Don Clark
URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-clark-06a44531/
Username: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine
URL: https://www.facebook.com/USAOMaine/
YouTube
Username: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine
URL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtSYDXolTp8Y2fDnIUsh4FQ
Username: U.S. Attorney Maine
Tag: @USAO_ME
URL: https://twitter.com/USAO_ME
Updated: April 13, 2021
Darcie N. McElwee is the next State’s Attorney for the District of Maine. Her biography can be found here.