House Committee Warns FBI Director Chris Wray to Comply With Law as DOJ’s Mayorkas Runs Cover

FBI’s Russia-Russia-Russia

Recently, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a stern letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray demanding answers regarding the embarrassing “McGonigal Affair.”

Charles McGonigal, who led the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York before retiring in 2018, is scheduled to appear today at a plea hearing in Washington federal court at 3 p.m. (CST).

He is expected to plead guilty to charges he concealed $225,000 in cash payments from a former Albanian intelligence officer who became a source in an FBI investigation, court records show.

Jordan’s committee has been seeking answers since early 2023 to which the FBI and the Justice Department have refused to provide to Congress.

Jordan reprimanded and reminded Wray that he was previously sent a letter on Feb. 2, 2023 requesting “documents and information” pertaining to the federal corruption and money laundering charges against McGonigal.

Last month, McGonigal came to a plea agreement with the Justice Department in Manhattan New York, relating to the Russian angle to his corruption case, yet Jordan’s committee still has not received answers. That case was related to his work for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska while Deripaska was under U.S. sanctions.

Jordan’s new letter states, accurately: “In addition to the ongoing case in New York, McGonigal also faces separate charges in Washington, D.C., for ‘concealing his relationship with a former employee of an Albanian intelligence agency.’ While the payment McGonigal received from the former Albanian official is considerably larger than what he received from Deripaska — over $225,000 — McGonigal is reportedly working to reach a similar plea deal with federal prosecutors in Washington.”

Jordan’s committee has been demanding answers before the Biden Justice Department reaches another plea deal to make McGonigal’s Balkan scandal disappear.

“Please provide the requested information and arrange for this briefing to occur as soon as possible, but no later than Oct. 3, 2023.” Jordan added, “If you refuse to voluntarily produce the requested documents and information, the Committee may be forced to consider the use of compulsory process.”

U.S. prosecutors indicate the former Albanian intelligence officer had business interests in Europe and was a source for an FBI investigation involving foreign lobbying that McGonigal supervised.

The most serious charges against McGonigal carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, but under Merrick Garland, Barack Obama’s choice to head Biden’s DOJ, prosecutors will likely seek a more lenient sentence as part of a plea agreement.

In a recent Mayorkas appearance before the House Committee,” Chairman Jordan began by saying, “There’s one investigation protecting President Biden, there’s another one attacking President Trump. The Justice Department has both sides of the equation covered.”

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