Disgraced FBI official who probed Trump-Russia ties changes plea to guilty for illegally working for Russian oligarch.
Disgraced FBI agent Charles McGonigal — who investigated the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Moscow in 2016 — is slated to take a guilty plea in the case accusing him of illegally working for a Russian oligarch.
“The court has been informed that defendant Charles McGonigal may wish to enter a change of plea,” Manhattan federal Judge Jennifer Rearden wrote in a brief order filed Monday, scheduling a hearing for Aug. 15.
McGonigal, 54, — a former top FBI counterintelligence agent based in New York — was indicted in January on charges including money laundering and violating US sanctions by working for Russian billionaire and business magnate Oleg Deripaska, including trying to get him taken off of the US sanctions list.
McGonigal was legally required to report to the FBI his contact with foreign officials, but instead allegedly hid the ties, pursing business and overseas travel that conflicted with his job.
McGonigal pleaded not guilty to the four counts: Conspiring to violate and evade US sanctions, money laundering, conspiring to commit money laundering and conspiring to violate federal law against doing business with sanctioned individuals.
He has been free on $500,000 bond since his arrest.
McGonigal played a central role in the FBI’s controversial “Russiagate” investigation of former President Donald Trump, which ultimately led to Robert Mueller getting appointed as special counsel to probe potential Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
He was separately indicted in Washington DC for allegedly hiding payments totaling $225,000 from a former member of Albania’s intelligence service and taking a secret meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. He pleaded not guilty in that case — which is still pending trial.
McGonigal’s lawyers didn’t immediately return a request for comment Monday.
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