Ex-FBI Intel Chief Who 'Investigated' Trump-Russia Collusion Gets 4 Years In Prison For Colluding With Russia
A former top FBI official who led the agency's New York counterintelligence division, and played a key role in the Trump-Russia collusion probe, has been sentenced to 4 years in prison for colluding with Russia - and he may face an even longer sentence under a second indictment for hiding $225,000 in payments from a former Albanian intelligence officer.
Charles McGonigal, 55, was arrested in January and slapped with two separate indictments - one in New York and one in Washington, with the New York case related to taking nearly $200,000 in bribes from Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska to investigate a rival oligarch, and the Washington case concerning the Albanian money.
Mr. McGonigal made at least $25,000 as an investigator for the law firm before directly working for Mr. Deripaska. He received an initial payment of $51,000 and then payments of $41,790 each month for three months from August 2021 to November 2021, the indictment said.
Prosecutors said Mr. McGonigal concealed his ties to the Russian oligarch by telling friends he was working for a “rich Russian guy” and stressed that his work was legal. In conversations about Mr. Deripaska, he would try to keep his employer’s identity a secret by referring to him as “the big guy” and “you know whom.” -Washington Times
McGonigal pleaded guilty in August after being hit with four initial corruption charges - including conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions, money laundering, conspiring to commit money laundering and conspiring to violate federal law against doing business with sanctioned individuals. Each count carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison..
McGonigal was the FBI's recipient of the fake tip from Alexander Downer that supposedly started the Trump/Russia investigation.
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) January 23, 2023
He was also involved in the fake Carter Page ("Crossfire Dragon") investigation. https://t.co/MDwosXQaqP pic.twitter.com/tGjDL5zFq6
While heading up the NY counterintelligence division, McGonigal was responsible for supervising and participating in investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska.
The indictment unsealed in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Monday charges the former F.B.I. official, Mr. McGonigal, with one count of violating U.S. sanctions, one count of money laundering and two conspiracy counts. -NY Times
On Thursday, McGonigal was slapped with a 50-month prison term and a fine of $40,000, handed down by Judge Jennifer H. Rearden of Federal District Court. Rearden said her sentence was designed to balance McGonigal's more than two decades as a law enforcement officer with the "extremely serious" nature of his crimes - which she said threatened national security.
She added that while he may not have intended to undercut sanctions on Deripaska, which were critical in America's efforts to punish Russia, "that is precisely what he ended up doing" when he investigated Deripaska's rival, Vladimir Potanin.
Mr. McGonigal’s work on the oligarch’s behalf — obscured by use of shell companies and subcontractors — involved seeking information about Mr. Potanin’s business. The ultimate goal, prosecutors said, was to cause sanctions to be placed on Mr. Potanin, potentially leveling the playing field with Mr. Deripaska. But the plot unraveled within months, after the F.B.I. seized Mr. McGonigal’s cellphone and that of another associate, Sergey Shestakov. -NY Times
In September, McGonigal also pleaded guilty in the Washington case, where he was charged with hiding $225,000 in payments received from a former Albanian intelligence officer. He is due to be sentenced for that case in February.
"It is not an overstatement to say that no one knew better the gravity of McGonigal’s crimes than McGonigal himself," wrote the US attorney on the case, Damian Williams.
