Obama's handling of Craig's resignation was also criticized in the media. Steve Clemons called it "the assassination of Greg Craig" and said that "the White House counsel was done in by a scurrilous leaks campaign." Maureen Dowd wrote that "the way the Craig matter was handled sent a chill through some Obama supporters, reminding them of the icy manner in which the Clintons cut loose Kimba Wood and Lani Guinier." Elizabeth Drew called it "the shabbiest episode of [Obama's] presidency." Craig's resignation took effect on January 3, 2010. He became the highest-ranking official to leave the Obama administration up until that point. Private practice after the White House Craig stated that he had planned to return to Williams & Connolly from the White House until he got a call from an old friend, Clifford Sloan, and a new friend, Joseph H. Flom, who asked him to join their law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, to establish a crisis-management team and a new practice group focusing on global issues and litigation strategies. On January 27, 2010, Skadden announced that Craig had joined the firm's Washington, D.C. office as a Global Policy and Litigation Strategy Practice Group partner. In April 2010, it was reported that Craig, as a Skadden partner, was representing the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs; the firm engaged Craig to advise it on litigation strategy in a Securities and Exchange Commission civil suit. When asked about Craig's new role, Deputy White House Press Secretary Bill Burton said that the administration did not have any advance knowledge of Craig's new role and also said, "I assume that people who leave the administration know [the Obama administration's rules barring former White House officials from lobbying for two years after leaving office] and are following those rules." Craig said "I am a lawyer, not a lobbyist. Goldman Sachs has hired me as a lawyer—to provide legal advice and to assist in its legal representation—and that is what I am doing." Legal representation was not covered by the Obama administration's ban. In 2011, Craig initially represented former Senator John Edwards, a former presidential and vice presidential candidate, in the federal prosecution of Edwards on charges of illegally using campaign funds to cover up his affair with Rielle Hunter. Edwards was subsequently acquitted. In 2012, Craig co-chaired (with former Republican congressman Vin Weber) a bipartisan task force formed by the Washington Institute