A jury began its deliberations Wednesday on whether Obama White House counsel Greg Craig is guilty of scheming to mislead the Justice Department, after clashes by the prosecution and defense in closing arguments Tuesday.
The trial against Craig lasted more than two weeks and included a day and a half of testimony from the high-powered Democratic lawyer himself.
Craig, 74, is charged with scheming against DOJ investigators about contacts with the media in promoting a report written at the behest of the Kremlin-linked government in Ukraine in 2012 about the country’s prosecution of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was tried under President Viktor Yanukovych. The president was a close ally of Republican operative Paul Manafort, chairman of Trump’s 2016 campaign, who was convicted of crimes in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Manafort was Craig’s contact with Ukraine, and Craig’s case spun off from Mueller’s inquiry.
The DOJ’s case against Craig focused on the public relations work allegedly performed for Ukraine by Craig and his firm — Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom. Prosecutors said Craig “schemed, falsified, and concealed” facts from the then-head of DOJ’s Foreign Agents Registration Act unit, Heather Hunt, in 2013. The law mandates anyone working for a foreign government register with DOJ. Craig denied helping Ukraine advance its agenda.
The prosecution and defense painted starkly different pictures of Craig, though the closing statements both referred to the movie Jerry Maguire.
Bill Murphy, Craig’s lawyer, quoted Tom Cruise’s sports agent character in his two-hour closing statement, saying that “we live in a cynical world.” Murphy argued that, according to Craig’s character witnesses, “in the cynical world that is Washington D.C.” there is one man who can be trusted: Greg Craig.
Jason McCullough, of DOJ’s National Security Division, invoked a different quotation in his 30-minute rebuttal.
“Mr. Murphy mentioned Jerry Maguire, but what’s the line from that movie?” McCullough said. “Show me the money! Show. Me. The. Money! $4 million.”
Victor Pinchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch, paid more than $4 million for Skadden’s report, despite Ukraine’s initial claim Craig’s firm was hired for $12,000.
In his 90-minute statement to the jury, Assistant U.S. Attorney Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez pointed out Craig back-dated a letter at Manafort’s request asking for $1.25 million more from Ukraine that was “top-to-bottom false.”
“That tells you a lot about his honesty, his integrity, and his willingness to do what Ukraine wanted,” Campoamor-Sanchez said. Campoamor-Sanchez argued that Craig was working with Ukraine on messaging about the report, pointing to his dropping off an early copy to David Sanger of the New York Times in the screen door of Sanger’s home.
But Craig’s lawyers argued he didn’t lie, and his only involvement in media outreach was to stop the whitewashing of the conclusions of his report by Ukraine or people working for Manafort, such as right-hand man Rick Gates and publicist Jonathan Hawker.
Hunt, Hawker, and Gates testified against Craig.
Craig’s lawyer attacked the government’s “star witnesses” by calling Hawker an “occupational liar” and Gates a “congenital liar” and “con artist” seeking a lighter sentence. Murphy said Craig didn’t trust Manafort, Gates, and Hawker to “play it straight” so he “hijacked their strategy” by telling Sanger what his report really said, rather than letting them spin it.
Murphy also noted the absence of other witnesses.
“Where was Mr. Manafort?” Murphy asked. “Where was Mr. Sanger?”
Craig’s lawyer ended by calling upon the jury to “salvage his reputation.”
The prosecutor told the jury the defense was trying to distract them, illustrated by a picture of a puzzle with small pieces missing, even though the larger picture was clear.
“Mr. Craig schemed to mislead his law firm and the FARA unit about what actually happened,” McCullough said.
If convicted, Craig faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
