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4w ago

DOJ Watchdog Says Ex-FBI Counterintelligence Chief Tipped CEFC to Investigation

The report says the 2017 tip intentionally damaged a criminal case, with no allegation of wrongdoing by James or Hunter Biden.

Charles McGonigal, the former head of counterintelligence for the FBI’s New York office, stands outside Manhattan Federal Court, in New York City, on Feb. 9, 2023.
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Overview

  • A DOJ inspector general report finds Charles McGonigal disclosed to a CEFC-linked associate that the firm was under FBI scrutiny while he led the New York counterintelligence office.
  • The report quotes an Albanian former official, identified as Person B, who said McGonigal signaled the bureau was “looking into” CEFC in 2017, after which Person B warned CEFC figures of possible arrests.
  • Investigators labeled McGonigal’s actions “disgraceful,” concluding he intentionally harmed an important case, violated the public trust, and compromised the FBI’s integrity.
  • FBI queries documented that a retired Secret Service agent said James Biden asked in November 2017 about a possible arrest warrant for CEFC executive Patrick Ho, though the report alleges no crimes by James Biden and does not implicate Hunter Biden.
  • McGonigal provided much of the account in a November 2023 proffer and is serving a multi-year federal sentence after 2023 guilty pleas in separate cases involving a Russian oligarch.