Prosecutors grilled Greg Craig for more than three hours Wednesday, trying to paint the former Obama White House counsel as deceptive, greedy, and a pawn of Ukraine and Paul Manafort.
Craig, 74, is charged with misleading Justice Department investigators about his role promoting a report written at the behest of the Kremlin-linked government in Ukraine about the country’s controversial prosecution of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was tried under President Viktor Yanukovych, a close ally of Manafort. Manafort, a lobbyist and Republican operative, was the chairman of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Craig’s case spun off from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia inquiry.
Craig took the stand all day, testifying he did not lie to investigators and that his only involvement in media outreach was to stop the whitewashing of his report’s conclusions by Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice or by people working for Manafort, such as right-hand man Rick Gates and publicist Jonathan Hawker. Craig claimed he wanted his report to be portrayed accurately in the media.
But prosecutors say Craig was deceptive about his interactions with David Sanger of the New York Times, pointing out Craig offered Sanger the report ahead of its release, emailed it to him, and hand-delivered a copy to his home. Craig did an interview with Sanger and other reporters.
Craig allegedly schemed to get around the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which mandates anyone working on behalf of a foreign government register with the federal government.
Prosecutors asked about interviews Craig gave in Mueller’s investigation in 2017, attempting to show discrepancies between the answers he gave in 2013 to FBI agents and to the investigators who oversee foreign agent registration and in court. Although the FBI interview notes were not entered into evidence, the prosecutor had parts read aloud in court amid objections from defense attorneys.
Though Craig had also done interviews with Sanger and other journalists about the report put together by law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom, the prosecutor pointed to interview notes where he told the FBI he only delivered the report to Sanger. Craig replied he told the special counsel he delivered the report but said he had not been deceptive.
The prosecutor also pointed to FBI interviews where Craig claimed he couldn’t remember what was discussed at key events, such as a meeting between himself, Manafort, Hawker, and others at the Harvard Club in 2012, a meeting he described in great detail today.
Craig told the special counsel’s office in another interview he didn’t have any idea why Ukraine would have pressured him on the report, the prosecutor said, despite describing at great length the pressure he felt from Ukraine at the time to go along with the effort to whitewash his report.
But Craig disputed the accuracy of the FBI agent’s official memo.
“I don’t recall saying that,” Craig said.
The prosecution did get Craig to agree Manafort often called the shots, pointing out many decisions were made by Manafort. The prosecutor also said Manafort was “pulling the purse strings.”
“I think that’s right,” Craig replied. “The payment schedule was established by Mr. Manafort.”
Victor Pinchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch, paid more than $4 million for the project, despite Ukraine initially claiming Skadden was hired for $12,000. An email from Craig showed he threatened to walk away from the project unless Skadden received $2 million up front. The money was funneled from Ukraine to Skadden through an account belonging to Manafort located in Cyprus.
“It was Pinchuk’s money but it was transferred through Manafort,” Craig testified.
Craig also admitted he met Manafort associate Konstantin Kilimnik, suspected of having ties to Russian intelligence, in 2011 or 2010 while “pursuing another engagement in Ukraine.” Prosecutors showed an email where Craig described him to Manafort as “wonderful.”
In an effort to show Craig’s financial motivations, prosecutors pointed to a 2012 draft retainer agreement demanding $150,000 just for Craig to make an initial trip to Ukraine. Prosecutors also showed Craig carefully crafted a letter sent to Ukraine asking for an additional $1.25 million dollars for responsibilities that Skadden was being asked to shoulder, even though the prosecutor got Craig to admit the firm hadn’t taken on new work.
Craig will continue being cross-examined Thursday.
