Greg Craig accused of making false statements
Obama counsel on trial; Craig has pleaded not guilty.
A pool of more than 70 potential jurors was asked if they had any knowledge or connections to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former special counsel Robert Mueller in the opening day of the trial of former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig, according to reports.
The potential jurors, all local to the D.C. area, were asked about many figures in the Mueller probe, including former Trump deputy campaign manager Rick Gates; Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, the son-in-law of Russian oligarch German Khan; and Russian-Ukrainian political consultant Konstantin Kilimnik, The Washington Times reported.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said the trail likely would last about two weeks. Her goal was to find jurors who “do not already know anything about the case,” Politico added.
GREG CRAIG, OBAMA WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL, PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO FALSE STATEMENTS CHARGES
Craig, who served as former President Obama’s first White House counsel and previously defended President Bill Clinton during his Senate trial, has pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements and concealing information in a federal foreign lobbying investigation spun off the Russia probe.
Craig is on trial about whether he was willfully concealing material facts from the Justice Department about work he performed for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
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After leaving the White House, Craig’s business interests intersected with Manafort, who later became chairman of Trump’s presidential campaign and was convicted last year of bank and tax fraud in a case brought by Mueller. Manafort subsequently pleaded guilty to crimes related to foreign lobbying and witness tampering.
Jury selection is slated to continue Tuesday.
Fox News' Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
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