Plot Twist: Ex-FBI Agent Involved in Trump-Russia Probe Indicted For Violating Russia Sanctions

Posted By TheNewsCommenter: From Freebeacon.com: “Plot Twist: Ex-FBI Agent Involved in Trump-Russia Probe Indicted For Violating Russia Sanctions”. Below is an excerpt from the article.

A former FBI official involved in the investigation of the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia was charged Monday for violating sanctions on behalf of a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the U.S. government.

Charles McGonigal, who led the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York, is accused of violating U.S. sanctions on behalf of Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminum magnate with close ties to Vladimir Putin. According to prosecutors, McGonigal and a former Russian diplomat conspired to have sanctions removed from Deripaska in 2021. They also investigated another Russian oligarch "in return for concealed payments" from Deripaska. Their effort was unsuccessful as Deripaska remains under sanctions. McGonigal, who was arrested on Monday, allegedly received $225,000 from a former Russian intelligence officer while he was still employed by the FBI.

The indictment marks a surprising twist given McGonigal’s involvement with the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s links to Russia. As a top counterintelligence official, McGonigal was one of the first individuals at the FBI to learn that a Trump campaign adviser had discussed Hillary Clinton’s emails with a foreign diplomat. The FBI opened its investigation of the Trump campaign based on that conversation, but later found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The indictment marks a surprising twist given McGonigal’s involvement with the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s links to Russia. As a top counterintelligence official, McGonigal was one of the first individuals at the FBI to learn that a Trump campaign adviser had discussed Hillary Clinton’s emails with a foreign diplomat. The FBI opened its investigation of the Trump campaign based on that conversation, but later found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

McGonigal, who left the FBI in 2018, was involved in the bureau’s probe of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, according to text messages released by Senate Republicans. "Our Team is currently talking to [Carter Page] re Russia," he wrote on March 16, 2017, to an FBI colleague.

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