Gotcha…a top FBI agent who was spearheading the Trump-Russia investigation was arrested over the weekend. Guess what he is charged with?
Alleged illegal activities with a Russian oligarch.
The Southern District of New York unsealed the five-count indictment against Charles McGonigal. He was a former Special Agent in Charge of the New York FBI Counterintelligence Division. The FBI also seized Sergey Shestakov on Monday.
Both men were charged with allegedly violating and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”). They were also conspiring to commit money laundering. The oligarch, Shestakov, was also charged with lying to the FBI.
According to the Department of Justice, McGonigal, “supervised and participated in investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska.” Shestakov is a former Soviet and Russian diplomat who moved to the United States and became a government interpreter.
United States Attorney Damian Williams said that both of these men should have known better than to be involved in these activities. He said that the Southern District of New York would “continue to prosecute those who violate U.S. sanctions enacted in response to Russian belligerence in Ukraine in order to line their own pockets.”
According to the Washington Free Beacon, it was reported that McGonigal was actively involved with the FBI’s investigation into Donald Trump’s supposed campaign links with Russia.
The Washington Free Beacon wrote that he was one of the first FBI officials to hear the story which alleged that George Papadopoulos discussed Hillary Clinton’s emails with an Australian diplomat, according to the news story.
The FBI officially opened its investigation based on that alleged conversation between Papadopoulos and Clinton.
McGonigal was not just involved with the investigation into the Trump campaign; he was also involved with an investigation into Trump’s adviser, Carter Page, according to the news report.
So Trump’s clear, but the FBI is charged.
