Just the News today (8/9/2023)
The former FBI agent was involved in investigating elements of the debunked Trump-Russia collusion claim before eventually being charged with working with a notorious Russian oligarch.
McGonigal, the former head of counterintelligence for the FBI New York field office, was indicted by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York in January on five counts related to services he allegedly provided to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The five counts include violating and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and conspiring to commit money laundering. The former FBI agent had investigated Deripaska over the since-debunked allegations that the Trump 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.
A court filing submitted on Monday said that “McGonigal may wish to enter a change of plea."
McGonigal previously pleaded not guilty to the five charges as well as the federal charges brought against him by the U.S. Attorney for D.C. for allegedly concealing $225,000 in cash from a person who worked for the Albanian intelligence service.
The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee opened an investigation into McGonigal in February.
McGonigal had some involvement in the Trump-Russia collusion investigation and the FBI’s interactions with the Clinton campaign.
According to an FBI document dated Oct. 22, 2015, McGonigal was copied on a defensive briefing for Clinton.
File
ClintonDefensiveBriefing.pdf
The document details a defensive briefing that Clinton’s attorneys, David E. Kendall and Katherine Turner, received a week earlier regarding an attempt to influence the then-Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign.
