A former White House attorney during President Donald Trump’s first term has been charged after police say he attacked an opponent during a pick-up hockey game in Springfield.
Christopher Koehler Grieco first struck the victim in the head with his hockey stick, knocking him to the ground, before he “continued the assault,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Fairfax County General District Court.
“When [the victim] fell to the ice, he continued the assault by punching and kicking him until other players intervened to separate them,” a Fairfax County police officer said in the complaint.
The incident occurred on Jan. 11 at The St. James, a 450,000-square-foot athletics complex in Springfield. Grieco was arrested the following month by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police before boarding a flight, court documents say.
The 44-year-old faces one count of malicious wounding — a felony that carries a prison term between 5 and 20 years, if convicted.
Grieco’s listed attorney did not respond to an email seeking comment by press time. A preliminary hearing in Grieco’s case has been scheduled for April 29.
Grieco, who is currently employed as general counsel for a cryptocurrency service provider, was appointed in 2017 to serve as Associate counsel to the president at the start of Trump’s first term.
In that role, Grieco led the team responsible for shepherding the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch, in addition to managing the White House’s response to Congressional investigations, vetting judicial nominees and other duties, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Grieco left the White House in July 2018 to become a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. After working in two other roles with the Department of Justice, he departed the agency in 2021 — a common move for political appointees.
Since January 2022, Grieco has worked in multiple legal roles within the private sector.
