Former President Barack Obama's first White House counsel expects to be charged in connection with alleged crimes uncovered during special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, according to The Washington Post.

Former Obama aide Gregory Craig was interviewed twice by Mueller's office as a part of Mueller's investigation into former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Why would he be charged? Craig, who was Obama's White House counsel from 2009 until 2010, went on to work for the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

The firm was hired by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's Justice Ministry in 2012. Skadden produced a report on the prosecution and imprisonment of one of Yanukovych's political rivals, Yulia ­Tymoshenko. That imprisonment was widely condemned in the west, and some human rights advocates accused Skadden of whitewashing what actually happened.



Craig, as a part of his work for Skadden, had numerous contacts with U.S. reporters to discuss the report, which had been disseminated by Paul Manafort, among others, to help Ukraine's image.

The Justice Department investigated whether Craig should've registered as a foreign lobbyist for his work on behalf of Ukraine. Craig's lawyers believe he will soon be charged for providing false statements to the Justice Department about his activities.

Skadden already paid a $4.6 million settlement to the Justice Department in January after admitting to misleading the government about its Ukrainian work and specifically blaming Craig for the false info.

What does Craig have to say? Craig hasn't addressed this publicly yet, but his legal representatives issued a statement in advance of the expected charges, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"This case was thoroughly investigated by the SDNY and that office decided not to pursue charges against Mr. Craig. We expect an indictment by the DC US Attorney's Office at the request of the National Security Division. Mr. Craig is not guilty of any charge and the government's stubborn insistence on prosecuting Mr. Craig is a misguided abuse of prosecutorial discretion," lawyers for Mr. Craig said in a statement.

(H/T The Hill)