A top global law firm that was part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has entered into a civil settlement with the Justice Department.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which was hired by Paul Manafort in 2012 to work on a report for a Kremlin ally in Ukraine, will turn over the $4.6 million it made in fees and expenses for its work with Ukraine to resolve liability for violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The firm will also register as a lobbyist for a foreign government in connection with the work it did with Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who faces charges from the special counsel in both Virginia and Washington.
The law firm additionally acknowledged that it gave false and misleading statements to the Justice Department in 2013, which in turn recommended it did not need to register as a foreign lobbyist.
“We have learned much from this incident and are taking steps to prevent anything similar from happening again,” Skadden Arps said in a statement.
In 2012, Skadden Arps prepared a report for Ukraine Ministry of Justice under pro-Russian former Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. The report evaluated the trial against Yulia Tymoshenko, a political rival of the president. The report was widely seen by critics as a means to make the prosecution seem more legitimate rather than politically motivated.
“Law firms should handle inquiries from the federal government the same way they would counsel their clients to: with appropriate due diligence to ensure the honesty of their response,” said John Demers, the head of the Justice Department’s national security division.
In September, CNN reported that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York was considering criminal charges against Greg Craig, who left the firm in April and was White House counsel under former President Barack Obama during the first year of the administration. The charges being weighed were part of the investigation into the law firm’s failure to register as a foreign agent. Craig is not mentioned by name in Thursday’s press release by the Justice Department, but is alluded to as the “lead partner.”
Forbes has dubbed Skadden Arps as “Wall Street’s most powerful law firm.”
Manafort was first charged by Mueller in his wide-ranging investigation in October 2017 in Washington in a 12-count indictment with conspiracy to launder money, making false statements, and other charges in connection with work advising Yanukovych and his party in Ukraine.
