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Ex-FBI Agent Speaks: Ways McGonigal Was Discovered, Aimed to Get Rich Through Lobbying

2023-02-07 22:02:34Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Ex-FBI Agent Speaks: Ways McGonigal Was Discovered, Aimed to Get Rich Through
Charles McGonigal

In an interview with the Voice of America, the former special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Coleen Rowly, talks about the case of the former senior counterintelligence officer of the FBI, Charles McGonigal, who was arrested by the American authorities a few days ago under suspicion of having helped the Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, in violation of American sanctions.

He is also suspected of having received money from a former employee of the Albanian intelligence services and for his connections with other officials in Albania.

Sipas ish agjentes Rowly, zoti McGonigal synonte që pas daljes në pension të pasurohej përmes lobimit për interesa të huaja.

Ish-agjentja Rowly është një sinjalizuese e njohur për publikun amerikan. Në vitin 2002 ajo ka dëshmuar para Senatit mbi problemet e thella me të cilat përballej FBI-ja dhe në përgjithësi agjencitë e zbulimit. Revista Time e shpalli atë, së bashku me dy sinjalizues të tjerë, si personin e vitit më 2002, për shkak të dëshmisë së saj se FBI kishte injoruar informacionet lidhur me veprimtaritë e dyshuara të një personi në Minesota, aty ku zonja Rowly punonte si agjente e FBI-së. Personi në fjalë, Zacarias Moussaoui, më pas ishte një prej rrëmbyesve të avionëve të sulmit të 11 shtatorit.

Rrëfimi i plotë dhe akuzat ndaj Mcgonigal:

“Unë jam Coleen Rowly, ish-agjente speciale e FBI-së, tani në pension dhe ish këshilltare ligjore e zyrës së FBI-së në Mineapolos për 13 vite, deri në fund të karrierës sime.

This is a very confusing issue. It seems that this special agent of counterintelligence in New York, Charles McGonigal in the last year of work after leaving the FBI began trying to make as much money as possible, using contacts and creating a network, to work like many others as a lobbyist for for foreign interests. He did this in several ways. There are two different lawsuits, it's a complicated case. He is accused in Washington of traveling in the last year of his career to Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina, for various meetings with government officials, meetings that he did not report on the Ethics office form. The forms are designed to avoid conflict of interest. By not reporting the trips, payments, or loans, he was hiding the fact that he was building a network of contacts through which he could get rich. This is not unusual in Washington. Michael Flynn was accused by the FBI of the same thing, of cooperating with Turkish officials. Such persons think that as long as it is not an enemy or sanctioned country, they can do so. Law firms lobby for various foreign interests. It is not clear whether he, McGonigal, understood how wrong this was. After retirement, he continued on this path and it is clear that there are enough rich people, oligarchs and billionaires in the world willing to pay. Influential people like McGonigal are willing to work for these billionaires. I don't think his situation is unique, other than the fact that he got caught. It is very difficult to detect corruption among public employees. But there are several ways it can be found out. He who pays a bribe is happy, who realizes his purpose, whoever gets the money gets rich. That's why they don't talk. But sometimes it happens that someone involved in corruption, at a low level, can be caught and not regain his conscience, but is forced to expose high officials. This is a way to detect the corruption of public officials. The other way is through covert operations. This happened with the operation called "Abscam" in 1979, when an FBI agent posed as a wealthy Middle Eastern sheikh, with a bag full of money. Six or seven Congressmen were willing to take money. These are some methods, but in general it is not easy to detect these cases. I think McGonigal threw it away for a while. The Ethics office forms seem to be poorly reviewed. Documents are submitted electronically. It seems that there is no analysis of what the forms contain to see if the statements are true, that they are the places and people they met. I think there are no investigations on these. I think McGonigal was caught later, in all likelihood, after someone in that group spoke up, or was caught by the authorities. Then the FBI interrogated him and he spoke. This has led to form control.

There is a precedent for an FBI official, a very bad precedent, that of Robert Hanssen, who was working for the Soviet Union as a spy, revealing the identities of other agents. The FBI trusted Robert Hanssen so much that it appointed him to head the team that should uncover the spy. This is a great precedent. Of course McGonigal comes to this point later. Most of the charges against him for the period before he left the FBI relate to his ties to Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and other foreign interests, about which he had lied.

But the Russian oligarch he worked for was sanctioned after McGonigal left the FBI. So there is a time difference, and of course this does not seem to reach a level where it is classified as espionage, as in the case of Robert Hanssen. But the irony is the same. The FBI puts a man in charge of counterintelligence who is lured by money and thinks he can enrich himself through his first public official position. I think this case will influence some people at lower levels of their careers to learn from what happened to McGonigal. Maybe they won't be weak enough to be recruited, like Hanssen or McGonigal. Hopefully people seeing what happened with Flynn and McGonagall. I don't think it will affect the work of most good FBI agents, working investigators. But I'm not sure if people in Washington will learn from the corruption of public officials. Perhaps another covert mission is needed to target a large number of powerful people. It's tempting to think you can make a lot of money when you have power. It's not just the FBI. There are all these powerful personalities in all the agencies and executive branches and even in Congress. Once in power, they think they have worked as legislators for 10 years and now they can get rich through lobbying. I think this is what needs to be fixed. It's tempting to think you can make a lot of money when you have power. It's not just the FBI. There are all these powerful personalities in all the agencies and executive branches and even in Congress. Once in power, they think they have worked as legislators for 10 years and now they can get rich through lobbying. I think this is what needs to be fixed. It's tempting to think you can make a lot of money when you have power. It's not just the FBI. There are all these powerful personalities in all the agencies and executive branches and even in Congress. Once in power, they think they have worked as legislators for 10 years and now they can get rich through lobbying. I think this is what needs to be fixed.

As for what might happen I think there are now cooperating witnesses and my guess is that after the lawyers see the evidence, he, McGonigal will probably plead guilty to some lesser charges. I would be surprised if he was sentenced to prison for a long time. I think false statements on ethics forms are punishable by five years. So if he pleads guilty to one or two of them, he could be sentenced to maybe two to five, or six years in prison. I would be surprised if he was punished more than that. I don't think it's a case of Robert Hanssen-level espionage, unless new charges are added. I doubt this is my opinion of what is expected to happen. Then he will testify and of course this opportunity will be used by the media and political parties, who are using it now. Now they are saying that since McGonigal was involved in the Russian lobbying, he had influence on it, maybe he was helping the Russians in the Mueller investigation. There are many ways to use this case, I think it is because of political polarization and the media. Unfortunately, I am pessimistic that things can be fixed quickly. There are very few people who are conducting a general review for the good of everyone, for the good of the country."


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