BY FRANK DAVIES

 WASHINGTON -- From the halls of power to network TV studios and midnight
 flights to Havana, Gregory Craig emerged Wednesday night as the key player in the
 Elian Gonzalez saga, a well-connected lawyer smoothly maneuvering through the legal,
 political and media maelstrom surrounding this case.

 He quarterbacked President Clinton's legal team during the impeachment trial in the
 Senate, served as an advisor to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and worked
 for Sen. Ted Kennedy in the 1980s, making several trips to Cuba to help arrange
 the release of the last Bay of Pigs prisoners.

 Returning from Havana late Wednesday, Craig made the dramatic announcement
 in Washington that his client, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, will arrive this morning in the
 United States for an eventual reunion with his son.

 Wednesday's mission, which involved delicate dealings with Cuban and U.S.
 officials, was the latest in a series of high-profile roles for the Washington lawyer.

 Craig, 55, went to law school with Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton at Yale, helped
 defend would-be assassin John Hinckley, represented the government of Panama
 against Manuel Noriega and the wealthy Mevs family in Haiti.

 He is a protégé of Joe Califano and Edward Bennett Williams, two legendary
 Washington insiders.

 ADVISED SEN. KENNEDY

 Craig also advised Sen. Kennedy before the senator testified in the highly
 publicized rape trial of his nephew, William Kennedy Smith, in Palm Beach in
 1991.

 In the process, Craig has come to exemplify a new breed of Washington lawyer
 whose work goes far beyond a courtroom.

 He is comfortable in late-night meetings with Fidel Castro, sparring with Diane
 Sawyer on ABC and conferring with colleagues from Capitol Hill to the
 foreign-policy establishment.

 ``Greg is a terrific lawyer, but in a case like Elian Gonzalez, you have to
 recognize this is so much more than a legal problem,'' said W. Neil Eggleston, a
 former White House counsel now in private practice.

 ``When it comes to the law, politics and the media, they're aren't that many
 lawyers who know how they all bump together, and Greg does.''

 CHURCH GROUPS

 That is why two church groups approached Craig more than a month ago,
 concerned that in the cross-fire between the legal team for Elian's Miami relatives
 and immigration officials, Juan Gonzalez's interests -- from the law to public
 relations -- were not fully served.

 ``We wanted a straight-ahead lawyer from an established, prestigious firm, not
 someone with an ideological trail,'' said the Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett,
 general secretary of the Board of Church and Society for the United Methodist
 Church.

 ``He can deal with people throughout the government.''

 INVOLVED IN CUBA

 Fassett's advocacy group and the National Council of Churches long have been
 involved in Cuba and have pushed for the return of Elian to his father.

 Fassett said he and Joan Brown Campbell, former general secretary of the
 council, decided to hire Craig, a member of the Williams and Connolly firm, at the
 suggestion of Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat.

 ``Craig has a good reputation on both sides of the aisle,'' said David Carle, a
 spokesman for Leahy. ``His work during the impeachment trial was admired by all
 participants.''

 DONATIONS SOUGHT

 Fassett said his church group is seeking donations to pay Craig's legal fees, and
 Craig said he is representing only Gonzalez -- he met him privately more than a
 month ago -- not the U.S. government, Clinton or Cuba.

 ``The only source of funds to help pay for this is individual contributions, from
 people who care about uniting fathers with sons,'' Craig said.

 Some skeptics in Miami and on Capitol Hill, who say Craig has a reputation as a
 political-legal ``Mr. Fixit,'' scoff at that.

 ``He's Clinton's lawyer -- that's clear,'' said Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Miami
 Republican who has harshly criticized the administration in the Elian case.

 CONDEMNABLE FACT

 ``It's a condemnable fact that Craig is Clinton's personal emissary to Castro, and
 he's going to do everything possible to satisfy Castro's requests.

 ``So I think that's a real conflict of interest.''

 Craig said his only goal is to bring father and son together, and he is willing ``to
 be flexible'' in dealing with both governments to make that happen.

 The Cubans know Craig from 14 years ago, when he helped negotiate the release
 of Ricardo Montero Duque and Ramon Conte Hernandez, the last two imprisoned
 soldiers from the failed 1961 invasion to overthrow Castro.

 Before his trip to Cuba, Craig launched his own media offensive.

 He described the Miami relatives' recent demands as ``outrageous.''

 Craig also said the bill in Congress to give Elian and his father permanent
 residency ``was like offering an Irish patriot the right to become a British subject
 when there's no evidence he wants that to happen.''

 Craig said he was aware of accusations in Miami that he is the agent of Clinton,
 Castro or the devil himself.

 ``As to fees, Satan hasn't offered yet, and there's not one nickel from Cuba,'' he
 said.
                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald