Ex-Obama White House counsel's trial set for August

Former White House counsel Gregory Craig will go to trial in August to face charges of lying to investigators who were working for special counsel Robert MuellerRobert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud choice of Mueller to lead Russia probe MORE, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., said Friday.

Craig, who worked under former President Obama from 2009-2010, is scheduled to begin his trial at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 12, according to court filings first reported by The New York Times. He is accused of lying and withholding information about former Trump campaign chairman Paul ManafortPaul John ManafortNew normal: A president can freely interfere with investigations without going to jail Kremlin: No evidence of election interference in Mueller report Heavily redacted Mueller report leaves major questions unanswered MORE‘s lobbying work in Ukraine from investigators working for Mueller’s now-shuttered probe.

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Craig pleaded not guilty to the charges earlier this month and called the accusations “unjustified.”

“This prosecution is unprecedented and unjustified,” Craig said at the time. “I am confident that both the judge and the jury will agree with me.”

Manafort, who remains imprisoned after being found guilty of a slew of financial crimes related to the lobbying work for pro-Russia politicians in Ukraine, originally hired Craig’s former law firm to write a report defending the Ukrainian government’s decision to imprison its former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, who was a political opponent of Manafort’s client.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who also oversaw Manafort’s charges in D.C., is overseeing Craig’s case.

His former law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, agreed to register as a foreign agent with as part of a settlement with the Justice Department earlier this year.