Arrest of FBI official involved in Trump-Russia probe spurs leftist conspiracy theories -
Mr. McGonigal played a role in the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and Moscow’s possible ties to former President Trump’s campaign, a probe dubbed “Crossfire Hurricane.” Now he faces criminal charges that he colluded with Russia himself.
“[McGonigal] may have knowledge of or have participated in political activities to damage then-candidate Hillary Clinton and help then-candidate Donald Trump,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, wrote in a letter earlier this month to Attorney General Merrick Garland. The theories also have been promoted by far-left podcaster Keith Olbermann and in liberal publications, including The New Republic.
Prosecutors say Mr. McGonigal broke the law by accepting money from Mr. Deripaska in exchange for investigating a rival oligarch and getting him off the sanctions list. It is those ties to Mr. Deripaska that have sparked theories that Mr. McGonigal was working at the behest of Moscow to elect and protect Mr. Trump. No evidence has ever emerged that Mr. Trump is a Russian asset, and special counsel Robert Mueller concluded in 2019 that his campaign did not collude with Russia.As the first part of the conspiracy theory goes, Mr. McGonigal would have been in a position to leak information about the laptop of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner.
In Mr. Whitehouse’s letter to the attorney general, he notes that Mr. McGonigal was in the New York office when Trump ally Rudolph W. Giuliani announced that “big surprises” about Mrs. Clinton would be forthcoming and hinted it came from the FBI’s New York field office. Mr. McGonigal was involved in the Crossfire Hurricane probe, including forwarding a tip in the case and played a role in the investigation into Trump campaign aide Carter Page, according to a report by the Justice Department’s inspector general. A top Justice Department official told the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020 that Mr. McGonigal was instrumental in launching the Russia collusion probe.
Mr. Mueller in 2018 indicted both Mr. Manfort and Mr. Kilimnik on conspiracy charges, witness tampering and obstruction of justice. Mr. Manafort was convicted of financial crimes and Mr. Kilimnik remains just out of the reach of U.S. law enforcement.
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