By David Cázares Sun-Sentinel .Web-posted: 11:45 p.m. Mar. 8, 2000
After three months of watching an ever growing team of South Florida lawyers battle the Justice Department over the fate of his son Elián, Juan Miguel Gonzalez is fighting back with a legal guru of his own.
Washington attorney Gregory Craig, who recently helped guide President Clinton through the impeachment hearings that followed the Monica Lewinsky affair, said Wednesday that Gonzalez had approved his hiring following a weekend meeting in Havana. Craig said representatives of various church
groups in the United States asked him to represent Gonzalez.
"We have met with Mr. Gonzalez alone and privately in Cuba and we are satisfied that Mr. Gonzalez is not being pressured or coerced in any way in his desire to be reunited with his son," Craig said. "We have informed the Department of Justice that Juan Miguel Gonzalez is
prepared to come to the United States to take custody of his son and will do so if necessary at the earliest possible moment."
The selection of Craig, an influential lawyer who attended Yale Law School with both the President and Hillary Clinton, is sure to inject even more drama into Elián's case, which again will be thrust onto the world scene today. At 9 a.m. in Miami, U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore
will convene a hearing on whether the political asylum case filed on Elián's behalf by his great uncle Lázaro Gonzalez should be heard in federal court. Justice Department lawyers have asked that it be dismissed.
Craig said Wednesday that he could not discuss his next move. But one thing is clear: Gonzalez' choice is no ordinary lawyer.
Craig has more than a quarter century at the top of the nation's legal and political circles. During that time, he has advised the famous and the infamous.
Craig, who has served as the State Department's director of policy planning, is a partner at the prestigious firm of Washington and Connolly. In 1991, he steered his former boss, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., through testimony in the Palm Beach rape trial of nephew William Kennedy Smith.
Craig was also a member of the defense team of John Hinckley Jr., who tried to assassinate President Reagan in 1981.
Those kind of blue-chip connections caught the wary eye of another lawyer who believes Elián should be returned to his father.
Chicago attorney Jeffrey Leving, who is trying to win temporary custody of Elián for another great uncle, Manuel Gonzalez, said Craig has said he would not file papers in federal court on the father's behalf.
Leving also said that Craig asked him to withdraw the effort on behalf of Manuel Gonzalez -- the one Miami relative who says Elián should return to Cuba as soon as possible.
"They want me off this case," Leving said.
The move to recruit Craig and push Leving aside leaves some to believe that the Clinton Administration may want to drag out the court case past the November presidential elections. That would spare Vice President Al Gore, the likely Democratic nominee, a decision to repatriate Elián
that could devastate his chances of competing in Florida, where Cuban-Americans hold considerable political clout.
"What I believe happened is they realized the motion on behalf of Manuel Gonzalez by Mr. Leving has merit to it, and they decided to bring this situation under control," said Francis Boyle, a law professor at the University of Illinois who advises Leving.
"This guy is right next to Clinton," Boyle said. "All of a sudden he gets on an airplane and flies down to Cuba. That' s sign to me that this is political damage control going on. Craig is a fix it man. That's what we lawyers would call him."
Craig said neither the Cuban government nor the United States government was involved in his selection.
Officials at the State Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Service had no comment. Officials at the Cuban Interest Section in Washington, said they had no information about Craig's selection. However, Luis Fernandez, a spokesman for the office knew exactly who Craig was.
"What a famous person," Fernandez said.
David Cázares can be reached at dcazares@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5012.
Copyright 1999, Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida Interactive, Inc.
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