Former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig found not guilty in Mueller spinoff case

[babylonsister]

Former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig found not guilty in Mueller spinoff case
The case was about whether he made false statements to investigators about years-old work for Ukraine’s government.
By Andrew [e-mail] Sep 4, 2019, 3:20pm EDT


Greg Craig, who served as White House counsel early in President Barack Obama’s administration, was found not guilty by a Washington, DC, jury Wednesday after a trial stemming from the Mueller investigation.

Craig had been charged with making false statements in a Justice Department inquiry into whether his law firm Skadden Arps should have registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) because of its work for the Ukrainian government.

His prosecution was spun off from former special counsel Robert Mueller’s extensive investigation of Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chair who came under scrutiny in the Russia investigation.

Craig’s trial, which lasted about three weeks, boiled down to the question of whether, back in 2013 and 2014, he tried to mislead the Justice Department about what, exactly, he did for Ukraine, in hopes that DOJ would conclude he didn’t have to register as a foreign agent.

Prosecutors argued that Craig tried to mislead the government about his contacts with journalists regarding a report that his firm had put together for the Ukrainian government. Their theory was that, because admitting to doing “public relations work” — rather than just legal work — could have led to a finding that he had to register under FARA, Craig misled DOJ about his contacts with the press.

The defense argued that, while Craig indeed didn’t want to register as a foreign agent, he genuinely didn’t think he needed to. Craig himself took the stand to testify that any inaccurate statements to DOJ were accidental, and that he was talking to the media for his and his firm’s interests (rather than to help Ukraine).


more...

https://www.vox.com/2019/9/4/20849125/greg-craig-trial-acquitted-not-guilty-mueller?fbclid=IwAR3Q0L-l2Fx7eIR50Jpukk6DXecbOX5QlPo9CWXyve9bfYFpeCouNzWlpnk

[PoliticAverse]

1. "any inaccurate statements to DOJ were accidental" - oops. n/t

[Me.]

2. Whomp, Whomp