Headline Roundup • December 15th, 2023
Ex-FBI Official Sentenced to 50 Months in Prison for Working With Sanctioned Russian Oligarch
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A former FBI official was sentenced to over four years in prison on Thursday for his work with a Russian oligarch.
The Details: Charles McGonigal had previously pleaded guilty to working for Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch under U.S. sanctions. McGonigal was a 22-year veteran of the FBI field office in New York before retiring in 2018. He began working with Deripaska after his retirement and was convicted of helping Deripaska find negative information on rival Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin.
Key Quotes: "Mr. McGonigal well knew his actions violated those sanctions," the judge said. "I committed a felony and as a former FBI special agent it causes me extreme emotional and physical pain," McGonigal told the judge prior to his sentencing. "I stand before you today with a deep sense of remorse."
How the Media Covered it: Right-rated sources often highlighted McGonigal's role in the probe of possible collusion between former President Donald Trump and Russia. Left- and center-rated sources rarely mentioned that detail.
Why the Difference? Some on the right believe the probe of possible Trump-Russia collusion was a politicized effort to take down Trump, and highlighting McGonigal's role in that alongside news of his conviction for helping a Russian oligarch frames the collusion probe as discredited.
Featured Coverage of this Story
A former FBI counterintelligence chief who played a pivotal role in launching the Trump-Russia probe was sentenced to just over four years in prison for assisting a sanctioned Russian oligarch after leaving his post in 2019.
In August, Charles McGonigal, a 22-year veteran of the bureau’s field office in New York, was found guilty of a count of conspiracy for working with Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire with close ties to President Vladimir Putin. During his stint with the bureau, McGonigal received classified information that Deripaska would be designated a Russian oligarch...
REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/ File
A former FBI official was sentenced to over four years in prison on Thursday after previously pleading guilty to working for Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch under U.S. sanctions whom prosecutors have called President Vladimir Putin's "henchman."
Charles McGonigal, who led the counterintelligence division of the FBI's New York field office from 2016 through his retirement in 2018, admitted in August to working for Deripaska between spring and autumn of 2021 to find negative information on rival Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rearden imposed the 50-month sentence at a...
Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters, FILE
One of the highest-ranking FBI agents to ever face criminal charges was sentenced to over four years in prison on Thursday for secretly colluding with a Russian oligarch.
Charles McGonigal, a former counterintelligence leader in the FBI's New York field office, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge. McGonigal's lawyers had asked for no prison time, but the judge came down harshly on the former FBI bigwig.
"I committed a felony and as a former FBI special agent it causes me extreme emotional and physical pain," McGonigal told the judge prior...
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