Former White House counsel Greg Craig was indicted by a grand jury Thursday for allegedly making false statements to the Department of Justice about work performed for Ukraine in 2012.
Craig, 74, who was charged with concealing material information from the Foreign Agents Registration Act Unit and making false statements, failed to disclose work he performed for Ukraine because he believed it would prevent him from future roles within the federal government, according to the indictment, which stemmed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
The attorney, who served as former President Barack Obama’s White House counsel, refused to accept a plea deal.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday that people familiar with the situation said Craig is likely to be charged with making false statements to the Justice Department.
Craig and his law firm were hired in early 2012 to lead an independent inquiry into whether former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko received a fair trial after she was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2011 for abuse of office, federal prosecutors say.
He was also signed on to consult about Tymoshenko’s second trial. Craig’s firm, Skadden Arps, at which he was partner, received more than $4 million for the report and consultation.
The effort, NBC News has previously reported, was spearheaded in part by Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman. Manafort was working with the government of former Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych to produce a report which Ukrainian legal experts have called a “whitewashing” of the facts against Yanukovych and have argued was politically…
