Rick Gates, the former business partner of Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, has testified that former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig helped spin a report in the media on behalf of the Kremlin-linked Ukrainian government.
The Justice Department’s case against Craig, 74, stems from Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation. It focuses on the public relations work performed for Ukraine by Craig and the law firm he worked for — Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom — throughout 2012.
Manafort, found guilty of tax and bank fraud and other violations, worked alongside Gates to assist President Viktor Yanukovych. Skadden and Craig worked out a deal with Manafort for a report on Ukraine’s controversial prosecution of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Gates, 47, who is cooperating with the government following a guilty plea related to conspiracy and false statements, took the stand Thursday for the first time since testifying against Manafort last year.
Craig maintains Skadden put together an independent report, and his lawyers deny his involvement in the media rollout plans by Gates and Jonathan Hawker, the British publicist who was brought on by Manafort to shape a pro-Yanukovych media narrative. Prosecutors say Craig initially sought advice about whether he’d need to register under the law if he took the job writing the report and that a colleague advised him writing a report would be fine, but doing public relations work would not.
Gates claimed that, months before the report was released, Craig suggested David Sanger of the New York Times as who should get the report. Craig later offered Sanger the report, hand-delivered a copy to his home, and did an interview with him and other reporters.
Craig is charged with misleading investigators about his role promoting the report at the behest of the Ukrainian government. The “scheme” relates to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which mandates anyone working on behalf of a foreign government register with DOJ.
Gates detailed the plan to “seed” the report with a trusted journalist before it was released, claiming “most of the other reporters would follow the first article.” Gates said the overall plan was a “living breathing document” but “the strategy never changed about seeding the report.”
And Gates says Craig proposed the journalist who they eventually decided to go with and that Craig worked with the reporter on the article.
“Mr. Craig had named a reporter from the New York Times who might be interested in writing this and that he’d be willing to reach out to about this,” Gates testified. “He said Mr. Sanger is a tough but fair reporter and we wouldn’t necessarily get a positive article — but we’d get a credible article.”
Gates further testified that “the overall strategy worked” thanks to Craig suggesting Sanger.
“The article wasn’t the greatest but it was viewed neutrally, so it did have an impact,” Gates claimed.
The article, published in late 2012, was headlined “Failings Found in Trial of Ukrainian Ex-Premier.” It listed some flaws in the prosecution, but Sanger wrote that “overall” the report “seemed to side heavily with the government.”
“They [Skadden] found no evidence in the trial record to support to her [Tymoshenko’s] main contention: that her prosecution was a politically motivated effort by Mr. Yanukovich,” Sanger wrote.
When asked why Sanger’s name rarely appeared in the plans, Craig claimed that “Mr. Manafort asked me to keep Mr. Sanger’s name off of material going back and forth” between himself and the other lobbying groups they’d involved, including the Podesta Group.
Craig told prosecutors Manafort picked Skadden because it was “viewed as a credible Western firm.” Gates said Craig was brought on because he was a “credible attorney” who could help sell the trustworthiness of the report.
When investigators saw media coverage of the report and the role Skadden played, DOJ questioned Craig about whether he should have registered as an agent of Ukraine. Prosecutors say he concealed facts because he thought registering would’ve harmed his career prospects.
Craig’s attorneys argue he spoke with the media only due to his fears Ukraine was whitewashing the report. “I agreed to tell the truth,” Gates said in explaining his plea deal. “And I agreed to help with any other cases they were working on.”
Gates said he’s met with investigators “at least 40 times.”
The defense grilled Gates about the alleged crimes he’d committed, getting him to admit he’d lied to to the IRS, Visa, Ukraine, and a bank in Cyprus, among others. Gates also admitted he stole money from Manafort, but denied allegations of insider trading. He also said he never made any false income claims related to Trump’s campaign.
Gates admitted the media rollout plans proposing Craig meet with global leaders and conduct media round tables were never approved by Craig.
Hawker testified earlier this week he referred to Gates as “prick” (an apparent play on “Rick”) and compared getting paid by Manafort and Gates to “trying to grab eels with your hands.” He said Craig was willing to speak with members of the media about the Skadden report.
Jurors this week were also shown a $1.25 million invoice which Craig backdated at Manafort’s behest to accommodate Ukraine. Skadden’s chief financial officer testified it was “not our standard practice” for Craig to issue invoices like that. Craig’s defense attorney addressed this issue in opening statements, saying Craig admitted it was a mistake.
Craig told Manafort “you rock” in another email after confirming a wire transfer.
The prosecution is expected to finish its side of the case Friday or Monday. Heather Hunt, former leader of DOJ’s FARA unit, hasn’t testified yet.
Craig faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
Viktor Pinchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch, paid over $4 million for the project, despite Ukraine initially claiming Skadden was hired for $12,000. Skadden settled with the federal government in January and relinquished $4.6 million, the amount it was paid for its report.
