The trial of Gregory B. Craig, who worked as counsel in the Obama White House, signals how the Justice Department is cracking down on the foreign influence industry, The Washington Post reports.
Craig, a prominent D.C. attorney who is charged with lying to federal investigators about the work he and his law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, did for the Ukrainian government, pleaded not guilty on Monday. The Justice Department invoked the Foreign Agents Registration Act for this case, as it has for more than 20 other federal prosecutions since 2017.
“It’s rare when you see a case like this, where someone who is extremely experienced, savvy and considered a wise person in Washington, is charged with violating a law that most would assume that he or she knows a lot about,” Thomas J. Spulak, a partner at King & Spalding who advises on lobbying issues, told the Post.
“Everyone who practices in this area knows, it’s going to be a different day,” Spulak added. “Either you come in and tell us [the Justice Department] the truth, the whole truth, and don’t leave out any facts that could be relevant to what you’re telling us, or you’ll suffer the consequences.”
Craig, who worked in former President Bill Clinton’s administration before joining former President Barack Obama’s White House as his first counsel, decried the case against him as “unprecedented and unjustified.”
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