{{Short description|American attorney and White House Counsel (born 1945)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Greg Craig.jpg | office = White House Counsel | president = Barack Obama | term_start = January 20, 2009 | term_end = January 3, 2010 | predecessor = Fred Fielding | successor = Bob Bauer | office1 = 19th Director of Policy Planning | president1 = Bill Clinton | term_start1 = July 10, 1997 | term_end1 = September 16, 1998 | predecessor1 = Jim Steinberg | successor1 = Morton Halperin | birth_name = Gregory Bestor Craig | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|3|4}} | birth_place = Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | party = Democratic | education = Harvard University (BA)<br>{{nowrap|Emmanuel College, Cambridge}} (MPhil)<br>Yale University (JD) }} '''Gregory Bestor Craig''' (born March 4, 1945) is an American lawyer and former White House Counsel under President Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2010. A former attorney at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly, Craig has represented numerous high-profile clients. Prior to becoming White House Counsel, he served as assistant to the President and special counsel in the White House of President Bill Clinton, where he directed the team defending Clinton against impeachment. Craig also served as a senior advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy and to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
After leaving the Obama administration, Craig returned to private practice as a partner at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. In 2019, Craig was indicted on charges of lying to federal prosecutors about the work he did at Skadden on behalf of the government of Ukraine under Viktor F. Yanukovych, work referred to Craig by Paul Manafort, then a Yanukovych consultant. Craig was acquitted in a jury trial.<ref name="Lucas">{{cite web|first=Ryan|last=Lucas|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/09/04/757603189/jury-finds-ex-white-house-counsel-craig-not-guilty-of-lying-to-government|title=Jury Finds Ex-White House Counsel Craig Not Guilty Of Lying To Government|website=NPR|date=September 4, 2019}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Craig was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 4, 1945.<ref name="Lewis">{{cite news|first=Neil A.|last=Lewis|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/us/politics/08craig.html|title=The New Team: Gregory B. Craig|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 8, 2008}}</ref> Craig's father, William Gregory Craig (1914–2005), was a Navy officer who served in World War II and after the war served as chancellor of the Vermont State Colleges system (1973–1976), chancellor of the California Community College system (1977–1980), and president of the Monterey Institute (1980–1988).<ref name="Bayot">{{cite news|first=Jennifer|last=Bayot|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/11/national/11craig.html|title=William Craig, 90, Leader of Colleges in 2 States, Dies|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 11, 2005}}</ref> The elder Craig unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Governor of Vermont.<ref name="Bayot"/> The younger considers Vermont his home state;<ref name="Lewis"/> he grew up as one of four boys in Middlebury, Vermont.<ref name="Kashino">{{cite magazine|first=Marisa M.|last=Kashino|url=https://washingtonian.com/2011/05/23/obama-white-house-counsel-gregory-craig-what-ive-learned/|title=Obama White House Counsel Gregory Craig: What I've Learned|magazine=Washingtonian|date=May 23, 2011}}</ref> He spent some of his early years in Palo Alto, California.<ref name="Eisler">{{cite magazine|first=Kim|last=Eisler|url=https://washingtonian.com/2000/07/01/greg-craigs-a-list/|title=Greg Craig's A-List|magazine=Washingtonian|date=July 1, 2000}}</ref>
Craig attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.<ref name="Eisler"/><ref name="Lin">{{cite news|first=Kevin|last=Lin |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2009/2/11/gregory-b-craig-67-on-a/|title=Gregory B. Craig '67|newspaper=The Harvard Crimson|date=February 11, 2009}}</ref> He then attended Harvard University, graduating with an A.B. in 1967.<ref name="Eisler"/><ref name="Lin"/><ref name="OfficialBio">[https://www.skadden.com/professionals/gregory-b-craig Gregory B. Craig], Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (accessed July 22, 2015).</ref> At Harvard, Craig sang with the Krokodiloes, Harvard's oldest all-male ''a cappella'' group.<ref name="Lin"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://kroks.com/files/images/Kroks%20of%201966.jpg |title=Group photo of 1966 Harvard Krokodiloes from group's website |website=kroks.com}}</ref> Craig graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a concentration in history.<ref name="Lin"/> His senior thesis was on Upton Sinclair's campaigns during the Great Depression.<ref name="Lin"/> Craig was elected chairman of the Harvard Undergraduate Council during his senior year.<ref name="Lin"/> During his time at Harvard, Craig became familiar with prominent faculty members, including Henry Kissinger.<ref name="Lin"/> During this period, Craig registered black voters in Mississippi, tutored children in Harlem, and "became Harvard's most widely quoted student leader in opposition to the Vietnam War."<ref name="Grove"/>
Craig considered claiming conscientious objector status to avoid the Vietnam-era draft, but he eventually submitted himself to the Exeter, New Hampshire, draft board, saying that "I thought it was the only honorable thing to do."<ref name="Grove"/> Craig received a medical deferment for a shoulder injury.<ref name="Eisler"/><ref name="Grove"/> Craig earned a Lionel de Jersey Harvard Fellowship to study at Cambridge University in England,<ref name="Lin"/> where he received a master's degree in historical studies in 1968.<ref name="Eisler"/><ref name="OfficialBio"/>
After returning to United States, Craig attended Yale Law School, where he was a member of the same class as Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham, and David E. Kendall.<ref name="Eisler"/> In the fall of 1971, Craig sublet his apartment in New Haven to Rodham and Clinton for $75 a month.<ref name="Kashino"/> Craig received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 1972.<ref name="OfficialBio"/><ref name="Jones">{{cite news|first=Ashby|last=Jones|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/01/27/why-greg-craig-chose-skadden-over-williams-connolly/|title=Why Greg Craig Chose Skadden Over Williams & Connolly|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=January 27, 2010}}</ref> After graduating, Craig, along with Kendall, took a job at the law firm of Williams & Connolly.<ref name="Eisler"/><ref name="Jones"/>
==Legal and government career from 1972 to 2009== Craig worked mostly at Williams & Connolly from 1972 to 2009, with his tenure there interrupted by periods working as a public defender, on the staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, at the State Department, and at the Clinton White House.<ref name="Eisler"/>
Three years after Craig began at Williams & Connolly, he left to follow his wife to Connecticut, where she obtained a master's degree in fine arts.<ref name="Eisler"/> While in Connecticut, Craig worked as a public defender.<ref name="Eisler"/>
Craig later returned to Williams & Connolly, where he was protege of Joe Califano and Edward Bennett Williams.<ref name="Grove"/> One of Craig's first big criminal cases at Williams & Connolly was that of multimillionaire D.C. developer Dominic F. Antonelli Jr., the chairman of Parking Management Inc. (PMI), who was charged with bribery and conspiracy in connection with an attempt to secure a D.C. government lease from D.C. official Joseph P. Yeldell, his codefendant. Craig defended Antonelli alongside his Williams & Connolly colleagues Kendall and Williams.<ref name="Eisler"/><ref>{{cite news|first=Felicity|last=Barringer|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1979/09/11/jury-picked-in-antonelli-yeldell-trial/c8adfc02-fb94-4f34-89f2-3461b87aa68c/|title=Jury Picked In Antonelli, Yeldell Trial|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 11, 1979}}</ref><ref name="Palazzolo">{{cite web|first=Joe|last=Palazzolo|url=http://www.mainjustice.com/2009/07/17/a-long-career-near-the-spotlight-but-rarely-in-it/|title=A Long Career Near the Spotlight But Rarely in It|website=Main Justice|date=July 17, 2009}}</ref> Antonelli and Yeldell were convicted by a jury in Washington, but that conviction was vacated on grounds of jury bias, and at a retrial in Philadelphia the two men were acquitted.<ref name="Palazzolo"/><ref>{{cite news|first=Emma|last=Brown|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/22/AR2010072205644.html|title=D.C. real estate, parking-lot magnate Dominic F. 'Nick' Antonelli Jr. dies at 88|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 23, 2010}}</ref> Craig is an admirer of Edward Bennett Williams, saying that he was "the great lawyer of our generation."<ref name="Seccombe">{{cite news|first=Mike|last=Seccombe|url=http://vineyardgazette.com/news/2008/08/04/defender-president-clinton-greg-craig-stumps-obama|title=Defender of President Clinton, Greg Craig Stumps for Obama|newspaper=Vineyard Gazette|date=August 4, 2008}}</ref>
In 1981, Craig was a member of the team that represented John W. Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan; Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity.<ref name="Lewis"/><ref name="OfficialBio"/> Craig worked in the office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy as his chief defense, national security, and foreign policy aide from 1984 to 1988.<ref name="Lewis"/><ref name="OfficialBio"/> Craig also defended Kennedy's nephew William Kennedy Smith on charges of assault; William Kennedy Smith had earlier been acquitted on rape charges in 1991.<ref name="Lewis"/>
Craig also served as chairman of the International Human Rights Law Group (later Global Rights).<ref name="Tibet">{{cite news|first=Steven Lee |last=Myers|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/01/world/jiang-visit-washington-after-jiang-moves-albright-appoints-new-coordinator-focus.html|title=The Jiang Visit: In Washington, After Jiang Moves On, Albright Appoints New Coordinator to Focus on Tibet|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 1, 1997}}</ref>
In 1996, Craig was offered the post of White House Counsel by Bill Clinton, but Craig declined.<ref name="Eisler, p. 275">Eisler, p. 275.</ref> Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright appointed Craig to the post of Director of Policy Planning at the State Department in 1997.<ref name="Lewis"/><ref name="OfficialBio"/> Craig served in that post from June 1997 to 1998.<ref name="OfficialBio"/><ref name="Tibet"/> As policy planning director, Craig served as a senior advisor to Albright<ref name="Tibet"/> and led the State Department's internal think tank.<ref name="Seccombe"/> In October 1997, Albright gave Craig the additional post of Special Coordinator for Tibetan Affairs, in order "to focus attention on China's suppression of Tibet's cultural and religious traditions."<ref name="Tibet"/>
Craig worked in the White House during the Clinton administration from 1998 to 1999, holding the title of Assistant to the President and special counsel.<ref name="OfficialBio"/> Craig's old friend and law partner Kendall was Clinton's personal attorney.<ref name="Grove"/> Craig was brought on specifically to coordinate the White House's defense of Clinton during impeachment proceedings against him. Termed the "quarterback" by Clinton, Craig worked from the West Wing and oversaw legal, political, congressional, and public relations aspects of the defense, reporting regularly to Clinton and consulting with John Podesta, the White House chief of staff.<ref name="Grove"/> However, Craig claimed in an interview with ''PBS Frontline'' in July 2000 that Podesta was the one who recruited him and that Podesta told him that the White House needed a "coordinator quarterback."<ref name=frontlinespeaks>{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/clinton/interviews/craig.html|title=Interview: Georgory Craig|publisher=PBS Frontline|date=July 2000|access-date=April 10, 2019}}</ref> He also stated that he mainly coordinated with Podesta and that "I could name to John ten other lawyers in America that could do the job as well, if not better."<ref name=frontlinespeaks /> Craig also stated that he wanted to remain in the State Department and that when Podesta first asked him to be the lawyer, he told him "Forgive me, John, if I'm not enthusiastic about the idea."<ref name=frontlinespeaks />
Craig's style was collegial in nature and he earned the respect of other White House staffers, although there was tension with then-White House Counsel Charles Ruff; according to ''The Washington Post'', "each man behaved as if he were the one in charge" and the two had different professional styles.<ref name="Grove"/> Ruff, Kendall, and Craig were three members of a five-member team of lawyers defending the president; the other two were Cheryl D. Mills and Dale Bumpers.<ref>{{cite web|first=Russell|last=Spivak|url=https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/premature-primer-how-do-impeachment-proceedings-actually-work|title=A Premature Primer: How Do Impeachment Proceedings Actually Work?|website=Lawfare|date=June 5, 2017}}</ref>
Craig then returned to private practice at Williams & Connolly as a partner.<ref name="McKinnon">{{cite news|first1=John D.|last1=McKinnon|first2=T.W.|last2=Farnum|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123879462053487927|title=Hedge Fund Paid Summers $5.2 Million in Past Year|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=April 4, 2009}}</ref> During the Elián González affair in 2000, Craig represented Juan Miguel Gonzáles, the Cuban father of six-year-old Elián González, in an international child custody dispute involving "the volatile field of Cuban-American relations" which ended with the boy's return to Cuba.<ref name="Lewis"/><ref name="OfficialBio"/><ref>[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0004/22/bn.12.html Greg Craig Discusses the Elian Gonzalez Custody Battle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916200400/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0004/22/bn.12.html |date=2008-09-16 }} (transcript of April 22, 2000 CNN interview).</ref>
Other high-profile clients represented by Craig while at Williams & Connolly include Richard Helms, the ex-director of Central Intelligence who was convicted of lying to Congress over the CIA's role in removing Salvador Allende;<ref name="Seccombe"/> UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan;<ref name="Seccombe"/><ref name="HsuHeldermanAcquittal">{{cite news|first1=Spencer S.|last1=Hsu|first2=Rosalind S.|last2=Helderman|authorlink2=Rosalind S. Helderman|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/gregory-craig-found-not-guilty-of-lying-to-investigators-probing-work-to-aid-ukraine-president/2019/09/04/b1273304-cf26-11e9-b29b-a528dc82154a_story.html|title=Gregory Craig found not guilty of lying to investigators probing work to aid Ukraine president|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 4, 2019}}</ref> Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn;<ref name="HsuHeldermanAcquittal"/> and Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.<ref name="Seccombe"/> He reported earning a salary of $1.7 million from the firm in 2008.<ref name="McKinnon"/>
==Obama presidential campaign== Craig met Barack and Michelle Obama for the first time in 2003, at the home of Vernon Jordan, a close friend of the Clintons, and the then-Illinois state senator impressed Craig.<ref name="Kashino"/><ref>Eisler, ''Masters of the Game'', p. 273.</ref> Despite close ties to the Clintons, Craig urged Obama to run for president, and became an informal foreign policy adviser to him.<ref name="Debates">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newsweek.com/ch-6-battling-it-out-great-debates-85159|title=Ch. 6: Battling it Out in the Great Debates|magazine=Newsweek|date=November 6, 2008}}</ref> In March 2007, Craig publicly declared his support for Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary; because of his close ties to the Clintons, this attracted widespread attention.<ref name="Kashino"/><ref>{{cite magazine|first=George|last=Packer|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/01/28/the-choice-6|title=The Choice: The Clinton-Obama battle reveals two very different ideas of the Presidency|magazine=The New Yorker|date=January 28, 2008}}</ref>
In summer 2008, during the presidential campaign, Obama decided to support legislation (specifically, an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) for granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the Bush administration's warrantless NSA wiretapping program.<ref name="Risen">{{cite news|first=James|last=Risen|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/us/politics/02fisa.html|title=Obama Voters Protest His Switch on Telecom Immunity|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 2, 2008}}</ref> This angered many Democrats, because it was a reversal of Obama's earlier vow during the primary campaign to oppose such legislation and to filibuster against it.<ref name="Risen"/> In his role as an advisor to the Obama campaign, Craig defended Obama's reversal, and said that Obama "concluded that with FISA expiring, that it was better to get a compromise than letting the law expire."<ref name="Risen"/> This was incorrect, as FISA itself has no expiration date. Journalist Glenn Greenwald criticized Craig for the "flat-out false" statement. However, in an interview with Greenwald, Craig said that, in explaining to Risen why Obama intended to compromise, he meant to say that certain existing warrants, which had issued under recently expired provisions of FISA, would soon expire themselves unless compromise could be reached on a pending broad amendment of FISA. Said Craig, Obama concluded it was better to compromise.<ref>{{cite web|first=Glenn|last=Greenwald|authorlink=Glenn Greenwald|url=http://www.salon.com/2008/07/02/obama_fisa_2/|title=Obama advisor Greg Craig: Adding insult to injury|work=Salon|date=July 2, 2008}}</ref>
During the campaign, Craig "seemed on a mission to destroy Hillary's political future." He emerged as "an outspoken critic of Hillary's foreign policy experience and ... a leading contender to be secretary of state after Obama got the nomination."<ref name="Eisler, p. 275"/>
In late summer and fall 2008, Craig, a skilled trial lawyer, assumed the role of John McCain in Obama's preparations for the presidential debates.<ref name="Debates"/> The campaign expected "that McCain would condescend to Obama as a wet-behind-the-ears rookie" and Craig played his role as such.<ref name="Debates"/> Craig-as-McCain "glowered" at Obama in debate prep, saying, "Do not lecture me about the war. Do not tell me how to deploy men in combat. I was flying a jet over Vietnam when you were in grade school."<ref name="Debates"/> Obama was tutored to remain unflinching and counterattack by listing McCain's past misjudgments.<ref name="Debates"/> In the 2004 presidential election, Craig played a similar role in preparing John Kerry for the debates; Craig played George W. Bush in practice sessions.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jim|last=VandeHei|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17094-2004Sep12.html|title=Debate Team Helps Kerry Prepare for Face-Off With Bush|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 13, 2004}}</ref>
==White House Counsel in Obama administration== [[File:The White House Counsel Greg Craig and President Obama talk to Retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Craig in the Oval Office with President Barack Obama on May 1, 2009, as photographed by Pete Souza.]] In its November 2008 issue, shortly before the 2008 presidential election, the ''ABA Journal'' speculated that Craig might be named Secretary of State in an Obama administration.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Terry|last1=Carter|first2=Stephanie Francis|last2=Ward|url=https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/the_lawyers_who_may_run_america_mccain/|title=The Lawyers Who May Run America|journal=ABA Journal|publisher=American Bar Association|location=Chicago, Illinois|date=November 2008}}</ref> Craig also reportedly hoped for that position or another foreign policy post in the Obama administration, which did not materialize.<ref name="Poised">{{cite news|first1=Anne E.|last1=Kornblut|authorlink1=Anne E. Kornblut|first2=Ellen|last2=Nakashima|authorlink2=Ellen Nakashima|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111300071.html|title=White House counsel poised to give up post|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=November 13, 2009}}</ref> Obama ultimately appointed Craig to serve as his first White House Counsel.<ref name="Poised"/> Craig served in that post from January 2009 to January 2010.<ref name="OfficialBio"/>
In his first year in the Obama administration, Craig handled "one of the most difficult portfolios in the West Wing."<ref name="Zeleny">{{cite news|first=Jeff|last=Zeleny|authorlink=Jeff Zeleny|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/us/politics/13craig.html|title=Craig Steps Down as White House Lawyer|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 13, 2009}}</ref> Craig drafted the executive order banning the use of torture and another executive order which ordered the closure within a year of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp (which never materialized).<ref name="Zeleny"/> Over the objections of the Central Intelligence Agency, Craig also recommended the release of the "Torture Memos" of the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice.<ref name="Kashino"/><ref name="Zeleny"/> In an interview in 2011 (after leaving his post as White House counsel), Craig said of the release of the memos: "I think the President made the right decision. It was in the public interest, and it did no damage to national security."<ref name="Kashino"/> Craig added that the memos were the subject of a Freedom of Information Act suit and that he believed that the likelihood of a judge ordering those memos released was high in any case.<ref name="Kashino"/>
Craig also "was at the center of the White House decision to reverse itself and withhold photographs of abuse of detainees."<ref name="Zeleny"/>
As White House counsel, Craig also oversaw the successful confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States.<ref name="Poised"/> Craig oversaw the vetting of several prospective nominees and, once Sotomayor was selected, helped prepare her for Senate confirmation hearings.<ref name="Kashino"/><ref>[https://www.skadden.com/insights/conversation-former-white-house-counsel-gregory-b-craig A Conversation With Former White House Counsel Gregory B. Craig] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085245/https://www.skadden.com/insights/conversation-former-white-house-counsel-gregory-b-craig |date=2016-03-04 }}, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (March 31, 2010).</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Erin|last=Miller|url=http://www.scotusblog.com/2010/03/lecture-by-gregory-craig-picking-supreme-court-justices/|title=Lecture by Gregory Craig: Picking Supreme Court Justices|website=SCOTUSBlog|date=March 5, 2010}}</ref>
Since the summer of 2009, "word had been leaking that Greg Craig's days [as White House Counsel] were numbered and that Obama campaign legal counsel Bob Bauer would be moving in to take Craig's spot."<ref name="Clemons">{{cite web|first=Steve|last=Clemons|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/11/16/the-assassination-of-greg-craig.html|title=The Assassination of Greg Craig|website=The Daily Beast|date=November 16, 2009}}</ref> Craig did not know who was responsible for the sustained leaks, although "he suspected they were driven by someone in the White House who was frustrated with the slow progress on shuttering" the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.<ref name="Clemons"/> Nina Totenberg of NPR reported that "There doesn't seem to be much doubt that these leaks came at least indirectly from Rahm Emanuel," the White House chief of staff.<ref name="Clemons"/> Jonathan Alter reported that Craig and Emanuel had a bad relationship, with Emanuel believing that Craig was attempting "to build up his own mini-National Security Council instead of focusing on bread-and-butter legal issues."<ref name="Hohmann">{{cite web|first=James|last=Hohmann|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2010/05/book-wh-offered-craig-judgeship-037402|title=Book: White House offered Greg Craig judgeship|website=Politico|date=May 18, 2010}}</ref> Alter also reported that Emanuel became enraged when Craig personally traveled with four Chinese Muslim Uighurs released from Guantanamo to Bermuda.<ref name="Hohmann"/>
By late October 2009, ''The New York Times'' reported that Craig had "for months now ... endured speculation in print and around the White House about whether he is on the way out."<ref name="Doubt">{{cite news|first=Peter|last=Baker|authorlink=Peter Baker (author)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/us/politics/22craig.html?_r=1&hp|title=Fate of White House Counsel Is in Doubt|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 21, 2009}}</ref> Craig stated then that he had no plans to leave and that the president had faith in him, but the ''Times'' reported that "colleagues and Democrats close to the White House said they expected him to move on around the end of the year, and they have been talking about possible replacements."<ref name="Doubt"/> By that time, Craig's authority had diminished: Emanuel had assigned Pete Rouse to handle Guantánamo issues, and, once after Craig started the search that led to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, assigned Ronald A. Klain and Cynthia Hogan to handle the confirmation.<ref name="Zeleny"/><ref name="Doubt"/>
[[File:Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar with White House Counsel Greg Craig 48-DPA-374 DSC 0015 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar with Craig in December 2009.]] Jonathan Alter reported that Obama "tried to avoid a high-profile ouster" of Craig by offering him an appointment to a federal judgeship, which Craig declined.<ref name="Hohmann"/> Craig was subsequently forced out, learning of his impending ouster while reading the morning paper.<ref name="Hohmann"/>
On November 13, 2009, the White House announced that Craig would leave his post at the end of the year, and would be replaced by Robert Bauer.<ref name="Zeleny"/><ref>The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-obama-greg-craig-and-bob-bauer Statement from President Obama on Greg Craig and Bob Bauer] (November 13, 2009).</ref><ref name="Henry">{{cite web|first=Ed|last=Henry|authorlink=Ed Henry|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/13/obama.staff.shakeup/index.html|title=Officials: Top White House lawyer to be pushed out|website=CNN|date=November 13, 2009}}</ref>
Craig's ouster following the "whisper campaign" against him angered his friends and supporters inside and outside the White House, who viewed him as a scapegoat.<ref name="Zeleny"/><ref name="Hohmann"/><ref name="Doubt"/><ref name="Henry"/> Obama's handling of Craig's resignation was also criticized in the media. Steve Clemons called it "the assassination of Greg Craig" and said that "the White House counsel was done in by a scurrilous leaks campaign."<ref name="Clemons"/> Maureen Dowd wrote that "the way the Craig matter was handled sent a chill through some Obama supporters, reminding them of the icy manner in which the Clintons cut loose Kimba Wood and Lani Guinier."<ref name="Dowd">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/opinion/25dowd.html |title=Thanks For the Memories |last=Dowd |first=Maureen |authorlink=Maureen Dowd|work=The New York Times |date=November 25, 2009 |access-date=March 5, 2013}}</ref> Elizabeth Drew called it "the shabbiest episode of [Obama's] presidency."<ref name="Dowd"/>
Craig's resignation took effect on January 3, 2010.<ref name="Henry"/> He became the highest-ranking official to leave the Obama administration up until that point.<ref name="Zeleny"/>
==Private practice after the White House== Craig stated that he had planned to return to Williams & Connolly from the White House until he got a call from an old friend, Clifford Sloan, and a new friend, Joseph H. Flom, who asked him to join their law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, to establish a crisis-management team and a new practice group focusing on global issues and litigation strategies.<ref name="Kashino"/> On January 27, 2010, Skadden announced that Craig had joined the firm's Washington, D.C. office as a Global Policy and Litigation Strategy Practice Group partner.<ref>[https://www.skadden.com/news-events/former-obama-white-house-counsel-gregory-b-craig-joins-skadden Former Obama White House Counsel Gregory B. Craig Joins Skadden] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082217/https://www.skadden.com/news-events/former-obama-white-house-counsel-gregory-b-craig-joins-skadden |date=2016-03-04 }} (press release), Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (January 27, 2010).</ref>
In April 2010, it was reported that Craig, as a Skadden partner, was representing the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs; the firm engaged Craig to advise it on litigation strategy in a Securities and Exchange Commission civil suit.<ref name="Baker">{{cite news|first=Peter|last=Baker|authorlink=Peter Baker (author)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/business/21craig.html|title=Ex-Adviser to Obama Now Lawyer for Goldman|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 21, 2010}}</ref> When asked about Craig's new role, Deputy White House Press Secretary Bill Burton said that the administration did not have any advance knowledge of Craig's new role and also said, "I assume that people who leave the administration know [the Obama administration's rules barring former White House officials from lobbying for two years after leaving office] and are following those rules."<ref name="Baker"/> Craig said "I am a lawyer, not a lobbyist. Goldman Sachs has hired me as a lawyer—to provide legal advice and to assist in its legal representation—and that is what I am doing."<ref name="Baker"/> Legal representation was not covered by the Obama administration's ban.<ref name="Baker"/>
In 2011, Craig initially represented former Senator John Edwards, a former presidential and vice presidential candidate, in the federal prosecution of Edwards on charges of illegally using campaign funds to cover up his affair with Rielle Hunter.<ref>{{cite news|last=Seelye|first=Katharine Q.|title=Edwards Indicted in Campaign Fund Case|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/us/politics/04edwards.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 3, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Gerstein">{{cite web|first=Josh|last=Gerstein|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2012/06/how-edwards-prosecution-stumbled-076942|title=John Edwards: How the prosecution stumbled|website=Politico|date=June 1, 2012}}</ref> Edwards was subsequently acquitted.<ref name="Gerstein"/>
In 2012, Craig co-chaired (with former Republican congressman Vin Weber) a bipartisan task force formed by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy which looked into American policy toward Egypt, then led by President Mohamed Morsi.<ref name="TaskForce">{{cite news|first=Peter|last=Baker|authorlink=Peter Baker (author)|url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/28/bipartisan-group-recommends-middle-ground-on-aid-to-egypt/?ref=topics|title=Bipartisan Group Recommends Middle Ground on Aid to Egypt|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 28, 2012}}</ref> The task force recommended a middle ground on continuing U.S. economic and military aid to Egypt; the group's report, released in November 2012, called for "an approach whereby the United States continues to provide substantial economic and military aid while linking both direct support and backing for international financial support to Egyptian cooperation on key U.S. interests."<ref name="TaskForce"/>
Craig led a team of lawyers from Skadden who were commissioned by the government of Ukraine under President Viktor Yanukovich to look into errors in the trial of former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko on abuse-of-power charges.<ref name="Herszenhorn">{{cite news|first1=David M.|last1=Herszenhorn|first2=David E.|last2=Sanger|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/world/europe/failings-found-in-trial-of-ukrainian-ex-premier.html|title=Failings Found in Trial of Ukrainian Ex-Premier|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 12, 2012}}</ref> The report, released in December 2012, found that Tymoshenko was denied legal counsel at "critical stages" of the trial and that her lawyers were wrongly barred from calling witnesses in her defense.<ref name="Herszenhorn"/> The report concluded that Tymoshenko's right to a fair trial "appears to have been compromised to a degree that is troubling under Western standards of due process and the rule of law."<ref name="Herszenhorn"/> However, the report also concluded that Tymoshenko's conviction was supported by the evidence presented at trial and rejected the claim that the prosecution of Tymoshenko was politically motivated by Yanukovich to obstruct the Ukrainian opposition.<ref name="Herszenhorn"/> Tymoshenko's attorneys rejected that finding, saying that the report was not independent because it was commissioned by the Ukrainian government, which paid Skadden an undisclosed sum of money,<ref name="Herszenhorn"/> and human rights organizations regarded the report as a "whitewash."<ref name="DilanianNBC">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/former-obama-lawyer-greg-craig-leaves-firm-after-brush-mueller-n868786|title=Former Obama lawyer Greg Craig leaves firm after brush with Mueller probe|last=Dilanian|first=Ken|date=April 24, 2018|work=NBC News}}</ref>
Craig promoted the report to journalists and members of Congress without much success.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|first1=Matthew|last1=Rosenberg|authorlink1=Matthew Rosenberg|first2=Kenneth P.|last2=Vogel|authorlink2=Kenneth P. Vogel|first3=Katie|last3=Benner|authorlink3=Katie Benner|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/us/politics/mueller-foreign-lobbying.html|title=Mueller Passes 3 Cases Focused on Illicit Foreign Lobbying to Prosecutors in New York|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 1, 2018|access-date=August 1, 2018|language=en}}</ref> Some experts said that Craig should have registered as a foreign agent, as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) requires those to lobby on behalf of foreign governments to register;<ref name=":0"/> however, Craig's attorneys stated that Craig "never disseminated Skadden's report on the Tymoshenko trial to U.S. government officials, and he did not discuss Skadden's findings with officials in the executive branch or the Congress or their staffs," and "was not required to register under FARA."<ref>Christine Simmons, [https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2018/09/18/experts-see-few-parallels-as-skaddens-ukraine-work-comes-under-fire/?slreturn=20220813012020 Experts See Few Parallels as Skadden's Ukraine Work Comes Under Fire], ''New York Law Journal'' (September 18, 2018).</ref> In January 2019, Craig's former law firm, Skadden, paid $4.6 million to the U.S. government in disgorgement as part of a civil settlement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/04/12/712862511/lobbyists-see-the-indictment-of-powerful-lawyer-gregory-craig-as-a-warning|title=Lobbyists See the Indictment Of Powerful Lawyer Gregory Craig As A Warning|last=Overby|first=Peter|date=April 12, 2019|publisher=NPR|work=All Things Considered|language=en|access-date=April 15, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/prominent-global-law-firm-agrees-register-agent-foreign-principal|title=Prominent Global Law Firm Agrees to Register as an Agent of a Foreign Principal|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs|date=January 17, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Recent FARA Development: Skadden Pays $4.6 Million in Settlement|work=FARA.us|author=Matthew T. Sanderson|date=February 15, 2019|url=https://www.fara.us/recent-fara-development-skadden-pays-4-6-million-in-settlement}}</ref>
==Indictment and acquittal== In April 2018, Craig resigned from Skadden following the indictment of Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer at the firm's London office. Craig was the lead attorney supervising the firm's work for former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, in which van der Zwaan participated. Van der Zwaan was later charged as a result of the Mueller investigation, and he pleaded guilty to making false statements.<ref name="DilanianNBC"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/former_white_house_counsel_greg_craig_leaves_skadden_he_was_lead_lawyer_on|title=Greg Craig, former White House counsel and lead lawyer on Ukraine report, leaves Skadden|last=Cassens Weiss|first=Debra|date=April 24, 2018|work=ABA Journal|publisher=American Bar Association|location=Chicago, Illinois|access-date=August 1, 2018|language=en}}</ref> Following a referral from Mueller's office, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (USAO-SDNY) in Manhattan investigated Craig and others, including ex-lobbyist Tony Podesta and former Republican U.S. Representative Vin Weber, as part of a broader investigation into the activities of Paul Manafort.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/01/tony-podesta-under-investigation-following-special-counsel-referral.html|title=Federal prosecutors said to be investigating lobbyist Tony Podesta after special counsel referral|last=Wang|first=Christine|date=July 31, 2018|website=CNBC|access-date=2018-08-01}}</ref>
Geoffrey S. Berman, who was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2018 to 2020, wrote in his 2022 memoirs that, throughout his two and a half years as U.S. attorney, officials in Trump's Justice Department repeatedly attempted to interfere with the office to politically benefit Trump, and that these officials "kept demanding that I use my office to aid them politically."<ref name=Chatelain>Ryan Chatelain, [https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2022/09/12/ex-u-s--attorney-in-book--trump-doj-repeatedly-interfered-with-office-for-political-reasons Ex-U.S. attorney in book: Trump DOJ repeatedly interfered with office for political reasons], Spectrum News NY1 (September 12, 2022).</ref> Berman wrote that USAO-SDNY had come under a level of political pressure from Trump officials that was "unprecedented and scary," and that he rebuffed these requests.<ref name=Chatelain/> In June 2020, Trump, angered by USAO-SDNY's investigations into Trump allies Michael Cohen and Rudy Giuliani, fired Berman.<ref name=Chatelain/> Berman said that, following his office's investigation, USAO-SDNY concluded that Craig did not commit a FARA violation and had decided not to pursue charges against him, but that in September 2018, a Trump Justice Department official, Edward O'Callaghan, contacted Berman's office and asked him to charge Craig before the 2018 midterm elections, saying that "It's time for you guys to even things out" after the indictments of Cohen and Chris Collins, a Republican congressman and Trump ally.<ref name=Chatelain/><ref name=Prokopandrew>Andrew Prokopandrew, [https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/9/8/23342623/geoffrey-berman-book-trump-doj-prosecutions A new book claims Trump's efforts to politicize the Justice Department were worse than we knew: Fired US Attorney Geoffrey Berman has some stories to tell.], ''Vox'' (September 8, 2022).</ref><ref name=Weiser>Benjamin Weiser, [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/12/nyregion/geoffrey-berman-trump-justice-department.html Senate to Investigate Charge That Trump Meddled in Prosecutor's Office], ''New York Times'' (September 12, 2022).</ref> O'Callaghan denied making the statements.<ref name=Weiser/>
The Justice Department ultimately passed the case to federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C.<ref name=":0"/> In early April 2019, Craig's lawyers said that they expected him to be indicted by Mueller on charges of concealing and falsifying material facts relating to the investigation's inquiry into possible FARA violations, centering around the work he performed in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |first=Nicole|last=Darrah |title=Lawyers for Greg Craig, ex-Obama White House counsel, say they expect him to be charged with foreign lobbying violations |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/greg-craig-obama-white-house-counsel-foreign-lobbying-violations |access-date=11 April 2019 |work=Fox News |date=10 April 2019 |quote=FARA violations were only rarely prosecuted until Mueller took aim at Paul Manafort}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first1=Christina|last1=Wilkie |first2=Kevin|last2=Breuninger |title=Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig charged by federal prosecutors over alleged Ukraine lies |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/11/obama-white-house-counsel-gregory-craig-charged-by-federal-prosecutors.html|access-date=11 April 2019 |work=CNBC |date=11 April 2019 |quote=The charges reportedly stem from the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election led by special counsel Robert Mueller}}</ref> Craig was indicted on April 11, 2019,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/us/politics/gregory-craig-indictment.html |title=Gregory Craig, Ex-Obama Aide, Is Indicted on Charges of Lying to Justice Dept. |last1=Vogel |first1=Kenneth P. |authorlink=Kenneth P. Vogel|date=April 11, 2019 |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 12, 2019 |last2=Benner |first2=Katie |authorlink2=Katie Benner|language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> on a single count of making false statements.<ref name=Weiser/> The indictment came after the U.S. Attorney for D.C. rejected Berman's position that an indictment was unwarranted and inappropriate.<ref name=Chatelain/> The indictment alleged that Manafort hired Craig and others at Skadden to write a report which would show favor towards Yanukovich, who was known for his close ties to the Russian government, and that Manafort paid them "millions of dollars".<ref>{{cite web |first=Greg|last1=Farrell|first2=Andrew M.|last2=Harris|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-11/ex-skadden-lawyer-greg-craig-is-charged-over-work-with-manafort |title=In Craig Indictment, a Top Law Firm Tries to Hide Lobbying |date=April 16, 2019 |website=Bloomberg.com |access-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/former-democratic-w-h-counsel-indicted-in-manafort-case-fallout-1489351747542 |title=Former Democratic W.H. counsel indicted in Manafort case fallout |first=Rachel |last=Maddow |authorlink=Rachel Maddow|date=April 12, 2019 |website=MSNBC |access-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gregory-craig-ex-obama-white-house-counsel-expects-to-be-charged-in-relation-to-ukrainian-work-with-manafort-his-lawyers-say/2019/04/10/9c0e0b32-4c04-11e9-93d0-64dbcf38ba41_story.html |title=Gregory Craig, ex-Obama White House counsel, expects to be charged in relation to Ukrainian work with Manafort, his lawyers say |first1=Rosalind S. |last1=Helderman |authorlink1=Rosalind S. Helderman|first2=Tom |last2=Hamburger |authorlink2=Tom Hamburger|date=April 10, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref>
The indictment was criticized as weak and politicized.<ref name=Prokopandrew/> Craig pleaded not guilty,<ref name="Montague">{{cite news|first=Zach|last=Montague|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/us/politics/gregory-craig-pleads-not-guilty.html|title=Gregory Craig Pleads Not Guilty to Lying to Justice Dept.|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 12, 2019}}</ref> and testified in his own defense.<ref name="LaFraniere">{{cite news|first=Sharon|last=LaFraniere|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/us/politics/gregory-craig-acquitted.html|title=Gregory Craig Acquitted on Charge of Lying to Justice Department|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 4, 2019}}</ref> Prosecutors did not call Manafort as a witness.<ref name="LaFraniere"/> The jury was informed by the judge not to consider possible offenses committed before October 2013 because the statute of limitations for those actions had run out.<ref name="LaFraniere"/> On September 4, 2019, the jury acquitted Craig after less than five hours of deliberation.<ref name="LaFraniere"/> Berman, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, wrote in his 2022 memoirs that the acquittal "was vindication, but the case should never have been brought. .... The case was too weak to be brought. It was inappropriate to be brought. And that's what the trial showed."<ref name=Chatelain/> In 2022, following the publication of Berman's book, the Senate Judiciary Committee opened an investigation into allegations that the Trump administration sought to use the U.S. Attorney's office in SDNY for partisan reasons.<ref name=Weiser/>
==Personal life== Craig is married to Derry Noyes.<ref name="Lewis"/><ref name="Grove">{{cite news|first1=Lloyd|last1=Grove|first2=John F.|last2=Harris|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/craig111998.htm|title=Crisis Quarterback: Gregory Craig Is Calling the Plays On Clinton's Team|newspaper=The Washington Postdate=November 19, 1998}}</ref> The two were married on July 27, 1974, in New Canaan, Connecticut. Derry is the daughter of Eliot Noyes, the noted industrial designer known for his work on the IBM Selectric typewriter.<ref name="Eisler, p. 70">{{cite book|first=Kim|last=Eisler|title=Masters of the Game: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Firm|publisher=Palgrave MacMillan|location=London, England|date=2010|ISBN= 9781429921190 |page=70}}</ref> Derry Craig is a graphic designer.<ref name="Grove"/> The couple have five children.
==See also== *Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2019)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== *Kim Eisler, ''Masters of the Game: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Firm'' (Thomas Dunne Books, 2010).
==External links== {{commons category|Greg Craig}} * [https://www.skadden.com/professionals/gregory-b-craig Official biography] from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP * {{C-SPAN|57224}} * {{NYTtopic | people/c/gregory_b_craig}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Jim Steinberg}} {{s-ttl|title=Director of Policy Planning|years=1997–1998}} {{s-aft|after=Morton Halperin}} |- {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Fred Fielding}} {{s-ttl|title=White House Counsel|years=2009–2010}} {{s-aft|after=Bob Bauer}} {{s-end}}
{{Obama Administration personnel}} {{White House Counsels}} {{Impeachment and impeachment trial of Bill Clinton}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Gregory B.}} Category:1945 births Category:Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Category:American lawyers Category:American political consultants Category:Clinton administration personnel Category:Directors of policy planning Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Category:Living people Category:Obama administration personnel Category:People acquitted of crimes Category:People from Cleveland Park Category:People from Middlebury, Vermont Category:Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Category:Politicians from Norfolk, Virginia Category:Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people Category:Washington, D.C., Democrats Category:White House counsels Category:Williams & Connolly people Category:Yale Law School alumni Category:Public defenders Category:Members of the defense counsel for the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton