Three years after Craig began at Williams &Connolly,he left to follow his wife to Connecticut,where she obtained a master's degree in fine arts.[5] While in Connecticut,Craig worked as a public defender.[5]
Craig later returned to Williams &Connolly,where he was protege of Joe Califano and Edward Bennett Williams.[9] One of Craig's first big criminal cases at Williams &Connolly was that of multimillionaire D.C. developer Dominic F. Antonelli Jr.,the chairman of Parking Management Inc. (PMI),who was charged with bribery and conspiracy in connection with an attempt to secure a D.C. government lease from D.C. official Joseph P. Yeldell,his codefendant. Craig defended Antonelli alongside his Williams &Connolly colleagues Kendall and Williams.[5][11][12] Antonelli and Yeldell were convicted by a jury in Washington,but that conviction was vacated on grounds of jury bias,and at a retrial in Philadelphia the two men were acquitted.[12][13] Craig is an admirer of Edward Bennett Williams,saying that he was "the great lawyer of our generation."[14]
Craig worked in the White House during the Clinton administration from 1998 to 1999,holding the title of Assistant to the President and special counsel.[7] Craig's old friend and law partner Kendall was Clinton's personal attorney.[9] Craig was brought on specifically to coordinate the White House's defense of Clinton during impeachment proceedings against him. Termed the "quarterback" by Clinton,Craig worked from the West Wing and oversaw legal,political,congressional,and public relations aspects of the defense,reporting regularly to Clinton and consulting with John Podesta,the White House chief of staff.[9] However,Craig claimed in an interview with PBS Frontline in July 2000 that Podesta was the one who recruited him and that Podesta told him that the White House needed a "coordinator quarterback."[17] He also stated that he mainly coordinated with Podesta and that "I could name to John ten other lawyers in America that could do the job as well,if not better."[17] Craig also stated that he wanted to remain in the State Department and that when Podesta first asked him to be the lawyer,he told him "Forgive me,John,if I'm not enthusiastic about the idea."[17]
Craig's style was collegial in nature and he earned the respect of other White House staffers,although there was tension with then-White House Counsel Charles Ruff;according to The Washington Post,"each man behaved as if he were the one in charge" and the two had different professional styles.[9] Ruff,Kendall,and Craig were three members of a five-member team of lawyers defending the president;the other two were Cheryl D. Mills and Dale Bumpers.[18]
Craig then returned to private practice at Williams &Connolly as a partner.[19] During the Elián González affair in 2000,Craig represented Juan Miguel Gonzáles,the Cuban father of six-year-old Elián González,in an international child custody dispute involving "the volatile field of Cuban-American relations" which ended with the boy's return to Cuba.[2][7][20]
Craig met Barack and Michelle Obama for the first time in 2003,at the home of Vernon Jordan,a close friend of the Clintons,and the then-Illinois state senator impressed Craig.[4][22] Despite close ties to the Clintons,Craig urged Obama to run for president,and became an informal foreign policy adviser to him.[23] In March 2007,Craig publicly declared his support for Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary;because of his close ties to the Clintons,this attracted widespread attention.[4][24]
In summer 2008,during the presidential campaign,Obama decided to support legislation (specifically,an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) for granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the Bush administration's warrantless NSA wiretapping program.[25] This angered many Democrats,because it was a reversal of Obama's earlier vow during the primary campaign to oppose such legislation and to filibuster against it.[25] In his role as an advisor to the Obama campaign,Craig defended Obama's reversal,and said that Obama "concluded that with FISA expiring,that it was better to get a compromise than letting the law expire."[25] This was incorrect,as FISA itself has no expiration date. Journalist Glenn Greenwald criticized Craig for the "flat-out false" statement. However,in an interview with Greenwald,Craig said that,in explaining to Risen why Obama intended to compromise,he meant to say that certain existing warrants,which had issued under recently expired provisions of FISA,would soon expire themselves unless compromise could be reached on a pending broad amendment of FISA. Said Craig,Obama concluded it was better to compromise.[26]
During the campaign,Craig "seemed on a mission to destroy Hillary's political future." He emerged as "an outspoken critic of Hillary's foreign policy experience and ... a leading contender to be secretary of state after Obama got the nomination."[16]
In late summer and fall 2008,Craig,a skilled trial lawyer,assumed the role of John McCain in Obama's preparations for the presidential debates.[23] The campaign expected "that McCain would condescend to Obama as a wet-behind-the-ears rookie" and Craig played his role as such.[23] Craig-as-McCain "glowered" at Obama in debate prep,saying,"Do not lecture me about the war. Do not tell me how to deploy men in combat. I was flying a jet over Vietnam when you were in grade school."[23] Obama was tutored to remain unflinching and counterattack by listing McCain's past misjudgments.[23] In the 2004 presidential election,Craig played a similar role in preparing John Kerry for the debates;Craig played George W. Bush in practice sessions.[27]
In its November 2008 issue,shortly before the 2008 presidential election,the ABA Journal speculated that Craig might be named Secretary of State in an Obama administration.[28] Craig also reportedly hoped for that position or another foreign policy post in the Obama administration,which did not materialize.[29] Obama ultimately appointed Craig to serve as his first White House Counsel.[29] Craig served in that post from January 2009 to January 2010.[7]
In his first year in the Obama administration,Craig handled "one of the most difficult portfolios in the West Wing."[30] Craig drafted the executive order banning the use of torture and another executive order which ordered the closure within a year of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp (which never materialized).[30] Over the objections of the Central Intelligence Agency,Craig also recommended the release of the "Torture Memos" of the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice.[4][30] In an interview in 2011 (after leaving his post as White House counsel),Craig said of the release of the memos:"I think the President made the right decision. It was in the public interest,and it did no damage to national security."[4] Craig added that the memos were the subject of a Freedom of Information Act suit and that he believed that the likelihood of a judge ordering those memos released was high in any case.[4]
Craig also "was at the center of the White House decision to reverse itself and withhold photographs of abuse of detainees."[30]
Since the summer of 2009,"word had been leaking that Greg Craig's days [as White House Counsel] were numbered and that Obama campaign legal counsel Bob Bauer would be moving in to take Craig's spot."[33] Craig did not know who was responsible for the sustained leaks,although "he suspected they were driven by someone in the White House who was frustrated with the slow progress on shuttering" the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.[33]Nina Totenberg of NPR reported that "There doesn't seem to be much doubt that these leaks came at least indirectly from Rahm Emanuel," the White House chief of staff.[33]Jonathan Alter reported that Craig and Emanuel had a bad relationship,with Emanuel believing that Craig was attempting "to build up his own mini-National Security Council instead of focusing on bread-and-butter legal issues."[34] Alter also reported that Emanuel became enraged when Craig personally traveled with four Chinese Muslim Uighurs released from Guantanamo to Bermuda.[34]
By late October 2009,The New York Times reported that Craig had "for months now ... endured speculation in print and around the White House about whether he is on the way out."[35] Craig stated then that he had no plans to leave and that the president had faith in him,but the Times reported that "colleagues and Democrats close to the White House said they expected him to move on around the end of the year,and they have been talking about possible replacements."[35] By that time,Craig's authority had diminished:Emanuel had assigned Pete Rouse to handle Guantánamo issues,and,once after Craig started the search that led to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor,assigned Ronald A. Klain and Cynthia Hogan to handle the confirmation.[30][35]
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar with Craig in December 2009.
Jonathan Alter reported that Obama "tried to avoid a high-profile ouster" of Craig by offering him an appointment to a federal judgeship,which Craig declined.[34] Craig was subsequently forced out,learning of his impending ouster while reading the morning paper.[34]
On November 13,2009,the White House announced that Craig would leave his post at the end of the year,and would be replaced by Robert Bauer.[30][36][37]
Craig's ouster following the "whisper campaign" against him angered his friends and supporters inside and outside the White House,who viewed him as a scapegoat.[30][34][35][37] Obama's handling of Craig's resignation was also criticized in the media. Steve Clemons called it "the assassination of Greg Craig" and said that "the White House counsel was done in by a scurrilous leaks campaign."[33]Maureen Dowd wrote that "the way the Craig matter was handled sent a chill through some Obama supporters,reminding them of the icy manner in which the Clintons cut loose Kimba Wood and Lani Guinier."[38]Elizabeth Drew called it "the shabbiest episode of [Obama's] presidency."[38]
Craig's resignation took effect on January 3,2010.[37] He became the highest-ranking official to leave the Obama administration up until that point.[30]
Private practice after the White House
Craig stated that he had planned to return to Williams &Connolly from the White House until he got a call from an old friend,Clifford Sloan,and a new friend,Joseph H. Flom,who asked him to join their law firm,Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom,to establish a crisis-management team and a new practice group focusing on global issues and litigation strategies.[4] On January 27,2010,Skadden announced that Craig had joined the firm's Washington,D.C. office as a Global Policy and Litigation Strategy Practice Group partner.[39]
In April 2010,it was reported that Craig,as a Skadden partner,was representing the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs;the firm engaged Craig to advise it on litigation strategy in a Securities and Exchange Commission civil suit.[40] When asked about Craig's new role,Deputy White House Press SecretaryBill Burton said that the administration did not have any advance knowledge of Craig's new role and also said,"I assume that people who leave the administration know [the Obama administration's rules barring former White House officials from lobbying for two years after leaving office] and are following those rules."[40] Craig said "I am a lawyer,not a lobbyist. Goldman Sachs has hired me as a lawyer—to provide legal advice and to assist in its legal representation—and that is what I am doing."[40] Legal representation was not covered by the Obama administration's ban.[40]
In 2011,Craig initially represented former Senator John Edwards,a former presidential and vice presidential candidate,in the federal prosecution of Edwards on charges of illegally using campaign funds to cover up his affair with Rielle Hunter.[41][42] Edwards was subsequently acquitted.[42]
In 2012,Craig co-chaired (with former Republican congressman Vin Weber) a bipartisan task force formed by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy which looked into American policy toward Egypt,then led by PresidentMohamed Morsi.[43] The task force recommended a middle ground on continuing U.S. economic and military aid to Egypt;the group's report,released in November 2012,called for "an approach whereby the United States continues to provide substantial economic and military aid while linking both direct support and backing for international financial support to Egyptian cooperation on key U.S. interests."[43]
Craig led a team of lawyers from Skadden who were commissioned by the government of Ukraine under PresidentViktor Yanukovich to look into errors in the trial of former Ukrainian prime ministerYulia Tymoshenko on abuse-of-power charges.[44] The report,released in December 2012,found that Tymoshenko was denied legal counsel at "critical stages" of the trial and that her lawyers were wrongly barred from calling witnesses in her defense.[44] The report concluded that Tymoshenko's right to a fair trial "appears to have been compromised to a degree that is troubling under Western standards of due process and the rule of law."[44] However,the report also concluded that Tymoshenko's conviction was supported by the evidence presented at trial and rejected the claim that the prosecution of Tymoshenko was politically motivated by Yanukovich to obstruct the Ukrainian opposition.[44] Tymoshenko's attorneys rejected that finding,saying that the report was not independent because it was commissioned by the Ukrainian government,which paid Skadden an undisclosed sum of money,[44] and human rights organizations regarded the report as a "whitewash."[45]
Craig promoted the report to journalists and members of Congress without much success.[46] Some experts said that Craig should have registered as a foreign agent,as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) requires those to lobby on behalf of foreign governments to register;[46] however,Craig's attorneys stated that Craig "never disseminated Skadden's report on the Tymoshenko trial to U.S. government officials,and he did not discuss Skadden's findings with officials in the executive branch or the Congress or their staffs," and "was not required to register under FARA."[47] In January 2019,Craig's former law firm,Skadden,paid $4.6 million to the U.S. government in disgorgement as part of a civil settlement.[48][49][50]
Geoffrey S. Berman,who was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2018 to 2020,wrote in his 2022 memoirs that,throughout his two and a half years as U.S. attorney,officials in Trump's Justice Department repeatedly attempted to interfere with the office to politically benefit Trump,and that these officials "kept demanding that I use my office to aid them politically."[53] Berman wrote that USAO-SDNY had come under a level of political pressure from Trump officials that was "unprecedented and scary," and that he rebuffed these requests.[53] In June 2020,Trump,angered by USAO-SDNY's investigations into Trump allies Michael Cohen and Rudy Giuliani,fired Berman.[53] Berman said that,following his office's investigation,USAO-SDNY concluded that Craig did not commit a FARA violation and had decided not to pursue charges against him,but that in September 2018,a Trump Justice Department official,Edward O'Callaghan,contacted Berman's office and asked him to charge Craig before the 2018 midterm elections,saying that "It's time for you guys to even things out" after the indictments of Cohen and Chris Collins,a Republican congressman and Trump ally.[53][54][55] O'Callaghan denied making the statements.[55]
The Justice Department ultimately passed the case to federal prosecutors in Washington,D.C.[46] In early April 2019,Craig's lawyers said that they expected him to be indicted by Mueller on charges of concealing and falsifying material facts relating to the investigation's inquiry into possible FARA violations,centering around the work he performed in 2012.[56][57] Craig was indicted on April 11,2019,[58] on a single count of making false statements.[55] The indictment came after the U.S. Attorney for D.C. rejected Berman's position that an indictment was unwarranted and inappropriate.[53] The indictment alleged that Manafort hired Craig and others at Skadden to write a report which would show favor towards Yanukovich,who was known for his close ties to the Russian government,and that Manafort paid them "millions of dollars".[59][60][61]
The indictment was criticized as weak and politicized.[54] Craig pleaded not guilty,[62] and testified in his own defense.[63] Prosecutors did not call Manafort as a witness.[63] The jury was informed by the judge not to consider possible offenses committed before October 2013 because the statute of limitations for those actions had run out.[63] On September 4,2019,the jury acquitted Craig after less than five hours of deliberation.[63] Berman,the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York,wrote in his 2022 memoirs that the acquittal "was vindication,but the case should never have been brought. .... The case was too weak to be brought. It was inappropriate to be brought. And that's what the trial showed."[53] In 2022,following the publication of Berman's book,the Senate Judiciary Committee opened an investigation into allegations that the Trump administration sought to use the U.S. Attorney's office in SDNY for partisan reasons.[55]
Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom LLP and Affiliates,typically shortened to Skadden,is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. The company is known for its work on company mergers and takeovers.
Williams &Connolly LLP is an American law firm based in Washington,D.C. The firm was founded by trial lawyer Edward Bennett Williams in collaboration with Paul Connolly,a former student of his. Williams left the partnership of D.C. firm Hogan &Hartson to launch his own litigation firm.
Clifford Sloan is an attorney and American diplomat who served as Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure at the United States Department of State. Sloan is currently a Dean's Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center and retired partner for Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom LLP and Affiliates. Previously,Sloan was the publisher of Slate magazine.
Preeta D. Bansal is an American lawyer who served as the General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor to the federal Office of Management and Budget from 2009 until 2011. Prior to her work in the Obama administration,she served as a law partner at Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom and as the Solicitor General of New York during Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's first term. She also has been a member and past chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). She is currently a lecturer at MIT and senior advisor at the Laboratory for Social Machines based at the MIT Media Lab.
The Podesta Group was a lobbying and public affairs firm based in Washington,D.C. It was founded in 1988 by brothers John and Tony Podesta and has previously been known as Podesta Associates,podesta.com and PodestaMattoon. John Podesta left the firm in 1993,and Tony Podesta left the firm on October 30,2017,after finding out about increased scrutiny of the firm. It has essentially ceased to exist since then. The firm reorganized in January 2007 after chairman Tony Podesta split with former business partner Dan Mattoon.
Paul John Manafort Jr. is an American lobbyist,political consultant,attorney,and convicted felon. A long-time Republican Party campaign consultant,he chaired the Trump presidential campaign from June to August 2016. Manafort served as an adviser to the U.S. presidential campaigns of Republicans Gerald Ford,Ronald Reagan,George H. W. Bush,and Bob Dole. In 1980,he co-founded the Washington,D.C.–based lobbying firm Black,Manafort &Stone,along with principals Charles R. Black Jr. and Roger Stone,joined by Peter G. Kelly in 1984. Manafort often lobbied on behalf of foreign leaders such as former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych,former dictator of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos,former dictator of Zaire Mobutu Sese Seko,and Angolan guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi. Lobbying to serve the interests of foreign governments requires registration with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA);on June 27,2017,he retroactively registered as a foreign agent.
Amy Sauber Berman Jackson is an American attorney and jurist serving as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Kevin Mitchel Downing is an American lawyer. He has previously worked for the United States Department of Justice Tax Division and as a partner for the law firm of Miller &Chevalier.
Anthony Fabrizio is an American Republican pollster and strategist. The principal in Fabrizio,Lee &Associates,Fabrizio was the pollster for Donald Trump's fall 2016 presidential campaign,former Senator Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign,U.S. Senator Rand Paul's U.S. Senate and 2016 presidential campaign,and former Governor Rick Perry's 2012 presidential campaign,among others. He also served as a pollster for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the 2014 midterm elections.
The Russian government interfered in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton,boosting the presidential campaign of Donald Trump,and increasing political and social discord in the United States. According to the U.S. intelligence community,the operation—code named Project Lakhta—was ordered directly by Russian president Vladimir Putin. The 448-page Mueller report,made public in April 2019,examined over 200 contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials but concluded that there was insufficient evidence to bring any conspiracy or coordination charges against Trump or his associates.
Since Donald Trump was a 2016 candidate for the office of President of the United States,myriad suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials have been discovered by the FBI,Special counsel,and several United States congressional committees,as part of their investigations into the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. Following intelligence reports about the Russian interference,Trump and some of his campaign members,business partners,administration nominees,and family members were subjected to intense scrutiny to determine whether they had improper dealings during their contacts with Russian officials. Several people connected to the Trump campaign made false statements about those links and obstructed investigations. These investigations resulted in many criminal charges and indictments.
The Robert Mueller special counsel investigation was an investigation into 45th U.S. president Donald Trump regarding Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and was conducted by special prosecutor Robert Mueller from May 2017 to March 2019. It was also called the Russia investigation,the Mueller probe,and the Mueller investigation.
Richard William Gates III is an American former political consultant and lobbyist who pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States for making false statements in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. He is a longtime business associate of Paul Manafort and served as deputy to Manafort when the latter was campaign manager of the Donald Trump presidential campaign in 2016,and after under Kellyanne Conway.
Alex Rolf van der Zwaan is a Belgian-born Dutch attorney formerly with the London branch of New York–based international law firm Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom.
This is a timeline of major events in first half of 2018 related to the investigations into links between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials and spies that are suspected of being inappropriate,relating to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. It follows the timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections before and after July 2016 up until election day November 8,the transition,and the first and second halves of 2017,but precedes the second half of 2018,the first and second halves of 2019,2020,and 2021. These events are related to,but distinct from,Russian interference in the 2018 United States elections.
The 2017-2019 Special Counsel investigation involved multiple legal teams,specifically the attorneys,supervised by Special Counsel Robert Mueller,taking part in the investigation;the team representing President Trump in his personal capacity;and the team representing the White House as an institution separate from the President.
This is a timeline of events in the first half of 2019 related to investigations into the many suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies relating to the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. It follows the timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections,both before and after July 2016,until November 8,2016,the transition,the first and second halves of 2017,the first and second halves of 2018,and followed by the second half of 2019,2020,and 2021.
The Special Counsel investigation was a United States law enforcement and counterintelligence investigation of the Russian government's efforts to interfere in United States politics and any possible involvement by members of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. It was primarily focused on the 2016 presidential election.
This is a timeline of major events in second half of 2018 related to the investigations into the many suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies relating to the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. It follows the timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections before and after July 2016 up until election day November 8,and the transition,the first and second halves of 2017,and the first half of 2018,but precedes that of the first and second halves of 2019,2020,and 2021. These events are related to,but distinct from,Russian interference in the 2018 United States elections.
Where Law Ends:Inside the Mueller Investigation is a best-selling non-fiction book written by Andrew Weissmann,a former Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA),and later a General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2011 to 2013. Released by Random House on September 29,2020,the widely read book gives an insider's view into Department of Justice special counsel Robert Mueller's highly controversial investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump.
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