Obama White House counsel can stand trial on foreign agent registration charge, judge rules – By Stephen Dinan (The Washington Times) / Aug 6 2019
A federal judge tossed one of the charges against former Obama White House lawyer Greg Craig, but ruled Tuesday that he will face trial on another charge stemming from the government’s accusations that he hid his work on behalf of the government of Ukraine.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee to the federal court in Washington, D.C., ruled that the law governing one charge was too ambiguous.
But she said the allegation that Mr. Craig concealed his work from investigators trying to figure out if he needed to register as a foreign agent.
“The facts the indictment alleges he omitted were the facts necessary to make the registration determination; the indictment sets forth sufficient facts to allege that they were – contrary to the defendant’s argument – the very sort of facts he was being asked about, and they were the facts that a foreign agent would ultimately have to disclose,” the judge wrote.
Mr. Craig had tried to get both charges tossed, but the judge’s decision means he’ll go to trial, which is scheduled to begin next week.
Mr Craig served as White House counsel, the president’s top lawyer, from 2009 to 2010.
Earlier this year a grand jury indicted him on charges of failing to properly report his work for Ukrainian officials to U.S. officials beginning in 2012.
One charge accused Mr. Craig of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by making false or misleading statements about his work in documents submitted to the Justice Department.
That charge was dismissed, with the judge saying it wasn’t clear whether Congress, in writing FARA, intended to cover this situation.
But the other charge, alleging Mr. Craig was part of a scheme to conceal his activities from the Justice Department, was valid, the judge ruled.
She said the grand jury’s charge that Mr. Craig engaged in public relations activities as part of a $4 million contract with Ukrainian officials stands.
In court documents, prosecutors say Mr. Craig was aware that his work was operating in territory that may require registration as a foreign agent. The indictment says he resisted because he feared registering as a foreign agent for Ukraine could hinder hopes of getting another U.S. government job in the future.
The indictment also says Mr. Craig concealed the $4 million payment and had Ukrainian officials falsify documents to suggest he was paid less for his work.
Greg Craig arrives ahead of his arraignment at federal court in Washington on Friday April 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/6/greg-craig-obama-white-house-counsel-has-charge-dr/
