An ex-FBI agent who helped initiate the bureau’s infamous “Russiagate” probe into former President Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia in 2016 has been sentenced to four years in prison for helping a sanctioned Russian oligarch launder money.
Former Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Counterintelligence Division in New York Charles McGonigal, who was appointed to that position by then-FBI Director James Comey in October 2016, was a key figure in initiating the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Multiple federal and congressional probes have yielded no evidence to support the oft-repeated claims that Trump and his campaign associates conspired with Russian assets to influence the 2016 election.
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McGonigal, who retired from the FBI in 2018, was arrested and indicted in January of this year on federal charges of money laundering, making false statements in mandatory disclosures to the FBI, violating U.S. sanctions on Russia, and other counts related to working with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
The ex-FBI spy hunter pleaded guilty in August, and on Thursday was sentenced to 50 months in prison and ordered to pay a $40,000 fine for conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), and to commit money laundering in connection with a 2021 agreement with Deripaska.
“Charles McGonigal helped advance the interests of a sanctioned Russian oligarch, breaking his oath to safeguard our nation and uphold its laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the DOJ’s National Security Division. “Today’s sentence holds him accountable for this betrayal and demonstrate this department’s commitment to deny designated individuals the means to circumvent U.S. sanctions.”
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Deripaska was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018 for posing an “unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The Justice Department stated that as an FBI official, McGonigal helped investigate Deripaska and other Russian oligarchs, while at the same time building a relationship with an agent of Deripaska in “hopes of doing business” with the sanctioned oligarch after retiring from the bureau.
In 2021, following negotiations with Deripaska’s agent, McGonigal agreed to and did investigate a rival Russian oligarch in exchange for payments concealed in shell companies, according to the Justice Department.
“Charles McGonigal violated the trust his country placed in him by using his high-level position at the FBI to prepare for his future in business,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York.
“Once he left public service, he jeopardized our national security by providing services to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian tycoon who acts as Vladimir Putin’s agent,” Williams said. “Today’s sentence is a reminder that anyone who violates United States sanctions — particularly those in whom this country has placed its trust — will pay a heavy penalty.”
