Charles McGonigal’s alleged illegal dealings in Albania — and for a notorious, U.S.-sanctioned Russian oligarch — has put the FBI in political crosshairs.
Fokina, who said she aspired to work at the United Nations, might never have secured the job and what investigators in a recent indictment have called
Fokin, who is not named in the indictment but matches the description of a figure referred to as “Agent-1,” would allegedly go on to work with McGonigal to assist his boss, Oleg Deripaska, a notorious Russian mogul and ally of President Vladimir Putin. The Justice Department alleges that after he retired from the FBI in 2018 at age 50, McGonigal was paid tens of thousands of dollars to illegally help lift U.S. sanctions that had been imposed on Deripaska in 2018.
Current and former government officials who have known and worked with McGonigal for years said they were appalled by the charges and by the implications of someone in his position potentially secretly working for foreign parties. McGonigal’s indictment comes at a time of FBI vulnerability. Critics point to the allegations of abuse by a top official as further evidence of serious problems at the bureau. That will put the FBI politically on the defensive, a year before the next general election, and when the bureau is under attack from some lawmakers, who allege that it has abused its powers for political ends.
in which he called McGonigal a friend and acknowledged giving him money and joining him at meetings with Albanian officials.in September, and was confirmed to The Washington Post by a person familiar with the investigation.McGonigal asked Neza for money — and Neza agreed, promising to pay him “little by little,” according to the indictment.
Before retiring from the FBI in 2018, the indictment alleges, McGonigal and Neza met repeatedly with Rama in the United States and Albania, including once for dinner in Washington in March 2018, when they were joined by a former FBI agent who is not identified. “What has so often been frustrating to people in the region is that, oftentimes, when these high-ranking Western officials appear, rather than using their positions to elevate the struggle against corruption and organized crime, it seems like they come down to our level and become part of the game,” Mujanovic said.
According to the indictment, McGonigal encouraged the FBI to open a criminal investigation in 2018 into an American lobbyist acting on behalf of the Democratic Party of Albania, the main opposition to Rama’s Socialist Party. Some of the information against the lobbyist, prosecutors say, came from Neza and originated in Rama’s office.
“You have the FBI, an esteemed branch of U.S. law enforcement, used to carry out the dirty deeds of Albanian politics,” he said, adding that the party has not been contacted by the FBI about the allegation. In August, Rossini was indicted on corruption charges in a case involving payments to the governor of Puerto Rico. He has pleaded not guilty.McGonigal’s work for Deripaska — the sanctioned Russian mogul — took place after he had retired from the FBI. But while he was still the bureau’s special agent in charge of counterintelligence in New York, he helped investigate Deripaska and other wealthy Russians with Kremlin connections.
Fokina “claimed to have an unusually close relationship to ‘an FBI agent’ who had given her access to confidential FBI files,” prosecutors allege. “It was unusual for a college student to receive such special treatment from the NYPD and the FBI,” the sergeant explained, according to the indictment. Deripaska personally signed a letter engaging the firm, Kobre & Kim, and agreed to pay $175,000 per month, with $25,000 “currently earmarked” for “certain other professionals,” prosecutors allege. The law firm retained McGonigal as an investigator and consultant. He asked the firm to compensate him by transmitting the $25,000 payment to a corporation owned by Shestakov.Kobre & Kim did not respond to requests for comment.
That New Jersey corporation was owned by an unidentified friend of McGonigal’s who had arranged for him to participate in the business when he was still an FBI agent, according to the indictment. The friend allegedly gave McGonigal a corporate email address and a cellphone under a false name to conceal his work while he was still on the FBI’s payroll, according to the indictment.
On Feb. 2, Sen. Richard J. Durbin , chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the allegations “extremely disturbing” and wondered whether McGonigal’s activities may have compromised sensitive counterintelligence and criminal investigations, including of Deripaska and the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s potential ties to Russia.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
FBI should focus on crime, not law-abiding citizensIt turns out that the once respected and admired FBI has started to watch the dangerous radicals who attend the Tridentine Latin Mass on the regular.
Read more »
Virginia jousts with Maryland in final bid for FBI headquartersVirginia has launched its final pitch, as both states prepare for a last presentation to the GSA to lure the FBI.
Read more »
FBI Finds Another Classified Document During Search of Pence’s HomeThe FBI found another classified document on Friday during a search of former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home, Pence’s spokesman announced.
Read more »
FBI labeling Catholics as possible violent extremists is an excuse to oppress 'political enemies': Evita DuffyThe Chicago Thinker managing editor Evita Duffy weighed in on the FBI's alleged targeting of 'radical traditionalist Catholic ideology' on 'Fox & Friends Weekend.'
Read more »
Virginia, Maryland, vie for new FBI headquartersSPRINGFIELD, Va. (AP) — Virginia lawmakers are making their final push to build a new FBI headquarters in their state, while Maryland officials try to persuade the federal government to put it in Maryland.
Read more »