Both sides make closing arguments in trial of ex-Obama White House lawyer Greg Craig

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Greg Craig accused of making false statements

Obama counsel on trial; Craig has pleaded not guilty.

Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that Greg Craig, a prominent Washington lawyer and former White House counsel under President Barack Obama, misled his then-law firm and the Justice Department about his work for the pro-Russian government of Ukraine in 2012.

Craig, 74, faces one count of lying to the DOJ's Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit when it approached the firm -- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom -- with concerns that it should have registered as a foreign agent for its Ukraine work.

Defense attorney William Murphy, in closing arguments that lasted about two hours, maintained that Craig "did not knowingly and willfully act to deceive" the FARA Unit and allegations that his legal services crossed a line into foreign lobbying were untrue.

"Did he really have a motive to lie and impugn his own reputation?" Murphy asked. "He had no motive to lie and he didn't lie."

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Craig took the stand in his own defense last in a case that emerged as an offshoot of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and that has spotlighted the lucrative universe of foreign lobbying in Washington. The case has centered on a report commissioned by the government of Ukraine's then-leader Viktor Yankovych that reviewed the criminal prosecution of opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko.

Craig said the report identified significant flaws with the handling of Tymoshenko’s case. That conclusion went against the interests of the Ukrainian government, which clearly wanted the trial to be depicted as fair in order to counter international criticism of the proceedings.

Craig said he discussed the report’s findings with Western journalists, including from The New York Times, only because he was concerned the media would portray it in Ukraine’s favor. He testified that because his position was contrary to that of the Ukrainian government, he did not view himself as a foreign agent and did not think it necessary to register as one with the Justice Department.

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Prosecutors have argued that Craig lied about his interactions with New York Times reporter David Sanger, claiming that Crag told his partners at Skadden and officials at the FARA Unit that he did not reach out to Sanger.

However, emails between the two men revealed at trial show that Craig did contact Sanger about the report, even hand-delivering the report to Sanger's home before publication.

"He chose to conceal the facts and that was the crime," prosecutor Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez said of Craig during closing arguments."When the FARA Unit asked him questions, he concealed because at the end of the day, his reputation would have been tarnished."

"It's not a crime to work on a report, or even to get $4 million out of a bank account in Cyprus," Campoamor-Sanchez added. "It is a crime to conceal. It is a crime to craft your answers so they don't even make sense. That is a crime."

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"Mr. Craig schemed to deceive his law firm and then the FARA Unit about what had actually happened... He wanted a result that he thought he was entitled to," prosecutor Jason McCullough said during the rebuttal. "Hold him accountable ... Find him guilty."

The jury is set to receive instructions from U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson Wednesday morning and will begin deliberations immediately after.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.