oligarch Oleg Deripaska
Today, former top FBI official Charles McGonigal was arrested and charged with making false statements to federal investigators about his ties to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
McGonigal, who worked in the FBI since 1999, held various positions at the bureau, including the head of the International Operations Division and the Deputy Director of the Criminal Justice Information Services Division. He was most recently serving as the assistant director for the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division until his retirement in 2018.
It is alleged that McGonigal failed to disclose his contacts with Deripaska when he applied for a security clearance and allegedly misled investigators when they interviewed him in October of 2018. According to the indictment, McGonigal claimed he had not seen Deripaska since 2009 when he had actually made contact with him a year later in 2010.
The indictment also alleges that McGonigal had traveled to Moscow in August of 2016 to meet with Deripaska and had accepted gifts from the Russian oligarch. McGonigal allegedly did not disclose these trips or gifts when interviewed by federal investigators.
The arrest of McGonigal comes amid heightened scrutiny of Russian ties to the Trump administration. Although the indictment does not allege any ties between McGonigal and the current president, this latest development is yet another sign of the ongoing investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election.
McGonigal is now facing a maximum of five years in prison and has been released on $100,000 bond. He is due back in court later this month.
This arrest is yet another reminder of the ongoing investigation into Russian ties to the Trump administration, and it remains to be seen what further developments will emerge in the coming weeks.