Former Obama White House Counsel Gregory Craig leaves federal court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, August 22, 2019. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi /ALM

In February 2018, Richard Gates appeared in a Washington federal courtroom to plead guilty to charges brought by Robert Mueller's team, beginning his new life as a key cooperator in the special counsel's Russia investigation.

Gates returned to the same courtroom Thursday to mark a new high point in his cooperation with prosecutors: testifying against Greg Craig, the prominent Washington attorney accused of misleading the Justice Department about his past work for Ukraine. Seated in the witness stand, next to U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia, Gates was reminded of the plea agreement that landed him in court last year.

Gates testified about the work he and Paul Manafort did for Ukraine in 2012, when Craig led a team at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom that prepared a report on the prosecution of the country's former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko. Craig was charged in April with misleading the Justice Department about his role in the public release of the report. Prosecutors contend he wanted to avoid registering as a foreign agent.

In his testimony, Gates said Craig had been involved in the public relations strategy for the report, even suggesting The New York Times reporter who received an advance copy as part of the media rollout. When prosecutor Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez asked whether Craig delivered the document to the reporter on behalf of Ukraine, Gates responded, "Yes."

Craig's trial is set to resume Friday in Washington's federal trial court, where other current or former Skadden attorneys could testify.

Craig has said he was entirely truthful with the Justice Department about his work for Ukraine. Although he has not been charged with failing to register as an agent of Ukraine, he has disputed there was any requirement to report his work under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, an 80-year-old law that requires law firms and lobby shops to reveal certain U.S.-based campaigns for foreign government clients. Craig has argued he spoke with reporters to protect his reputation and to counter efforts to spin the the Tymoshenko report.

Craig's defense team tried to undercut Gates' credibility. Zuckerman Spaeder partner Paula Junghans asked Gates about allegations that he filed false tax returns, failed to disclose foreign bank accounts and failed to register as a foreign agent in connection with his past work for Ukraine. Gates pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy charge in connection with those offenses.

"So you pled guilty to conspiring to violate all of those federal statutes?" Junghans asked.

"I did," Gates replied.

Junghans noted that Gates had also pleaded guilty to lying to Mueller's team. "That's correct," Gates answered.

In the same month Gates pleaded guilty, Alexander van der Zwaan, a former London-based associate at Skadden, admitted to lying to Mueller's team about his involvement in the Tymoshenko report. Van der Zwaan was later sentenced to 30 days in prison, and he has been disbarred.

Junghans used her questioning to underscore Gates' close personal relationship with van der Zwaan and to suggest the former Skadden associate went behind Craig's back to help Ukraine's public relations efforts.

Rick Gates, left, leaves the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Defense lawyer Shanlon Wu, at right. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM

Gates said he convinced van der Zwaan to allow a public relations consultant hired by Ukraine to review a copy of the Tymoshenko report. The public relations consultant, Jonathan Hawker, had testified earlier in the week that he was left alone in van der Zwaan's hotel room in Kiev to review the findings.

Junghans said van der Zwaan provided the sneak peek "in spite of the fact that Greg Craig had refused to disclose the report" to Gates and Hawker.

Junghans also used questions to show Gates and van der Zwaan spent time together outside their work on the Tymoshenko report.

"You hung out?" Junghans asked.

"Yes."

"You went to dinners and nightclubs together?" the defense lawyer said.

"We went to dinners," Gates responded.

 

Read more:

'We Will Leave': Drama Over Skadden's Ukraine Billing Gets Close Up at Greg Craig Trial

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