Ex-FBI Official Involved in Trump-Russia Probe Indicted for Violating Sanctions on Behalf of Russian Oligarch

Charles McGonigal was accused of conspiring against lifting sanctions on Russian businessmen with ties to Vladimir Putin

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 Oleg Deripaska is a Russian aluminum magnate who has close ties with Vladimir Putin. According to the prosecutors McGonigal and an ex-Russian diplomat conspired for Deripaska to be freed from sanctions in 2021. They also conducted an investigation into another Russian oligarch “in return for concealed payments” Deripaska. Deripaska is still under sanctions, so their efforts were unsuccessful.

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. Based on this conversation, the FBI began its investigation into the Trump campaign. However, it later discovered no evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.

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. Based on this conversation, the FBI began its investigation into the Trump campaign. However, it later discovered no evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.

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 the following letter to an FBI colleague on March 16, 2017.

It is unknown what McGonigal’s other involvement in the Trump Russia probe was. But that investigation also scrutinized Deripaska’s relationship with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Manafort, Deripaska and Paul Manafort had business dealings with Ukraine and kept in touch during the 2016 campaign.

Also, Deripaska has connections to Christopher Steele (an ex-british spy), who claimed in an infamous dossier the Trump campaign conspired to the Russian government to influence 2016. The FBI relied heavily on Steele’s dossier for its investigation, but failed to verify the collusion allegations. Deripaska once hired Steele will be working on a “research project” On his behalf.