UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ____________________________________ ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) v. ) Crim. Action No. 19-0125 (ABJ) ) GREGORY B. CRAIG, ) ) Defendant. ) ____________________________________) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER On April 11, 2019, a grand jury indicted defendant Gregory Craig for two offenses arising out of statements he made to the National Security Division of the United States Department of Justice in 2013. Indictment (“Ind.”) [Dkt. # 1]. The statements related to his possible obligation to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, 22 U.S.C. §§ 611–621 (“FARA” or “the Act”), in connection with work he performed for the government of Ukraine. Id. Craig and his law firm were engaged to prepare a report, and the alleged false statements and omissions set forth in the indictment concern the extent of his participation in any public relations effort within the United States associated with the December 2012 release of the report. Ind. ¶¶ 7–46. Count One alleges that Craig engaged in a scheme to “knowingly and willfully falsify, conceal, and cover up . . . material facts” in his communications with the Division’s Foreign Agents Registration Act Unit (“the FARA Unit” or “the Unit”) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(1), and that he did so to avoid registering as a foreign agent and making the disclosures required under the Act. Ind. ¶¶ 47–48. Count Two alleges that he made false statements of material fact in an October 11, 2013 letter furnished to the FARA Unit under the provisions of the Act, and that he omitted material facts necessary to make those statements not misleading in violation of sections 612 and 618 of FARA, 22 U.S.C. §§ 612 and 618(a)(2). Ind. ¶¶ 66–67. The indictment sets forth the defendant’s alleged “manner and means” of carrying out the scheme to conceal charged in Count One: (1) withholding information from attorneys within his law firm; (2) drafting false and misleading descriptions of his media contacts to be distributed within the law firm and also provided to the FARA Unit; and (3) omitting material facts “regarding his acts in furtherance of Ukraine’s media plan” and his own contacts with reporters in his communications with the FARA Unit. Ind. ¶ 50. In a section entitled, “Execution of the Scheme,” the indictment sets forth the specific false statements and omissions allegedly made by the defendant to his firm’s general counsel and in letters to, and a meeting with, the Unit. Ind. ¶¶ 51–65. The defendant has filed two motions to dismiss, one for each count in the indictment. Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss Count One [Dkt. # 19] (“Def. Count One Mot.”); Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss Count Two [Dkt. # 20] (“Def. Count Two Mot.”). 1 This opinion concludes that Count Two must be dismissed, but Count One will proceed to trial. With respect to Count Two, while the Court can fairly square the plain language of 22 U.S.C. § 618, FARA’s false statement provision, with the government’s application ...
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