Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Here's a hugely important point about the NY case. [View all]Kid Berwyn
(17,224 posts)24. Charles McGonigal worked for Oleg Deripaska same time he worked as CI chief for NY FBI
Did the FBIs Charles McGonigal Help Throw the 2016 Election to Trump?
The shocking indictments against the former head of counterintelligence for the FBI in New York raise many dark questions.
By Craig Unger
The National Review, February 1, 2023
In the course of writing two books on Donald Trumps ties to Russia, the same question occurred to me again and again: How is it possible that I knew all sorts of stuff about Donald Trump, and the FBI didnt seem to have a clue? Or if they did, why werent they doing anything with it?
Specifically, I knew that:
* Starting in 1980, an alleged spotter agent for the KGB began cultivating Trump as a new asset for Soviet intelligence.
* The Russian mafia laundered millions of dollars through Donald Trumps real estate by purchasing condos in all-cash transactions through anonymous corporations that did not disclose real ownership.
* Trump Tower was a home away from home for Vyacheslav Ivankov, one of the most brutal leaders of the Russian mafia, and at least 13 people with known or alleged links to the mafia held the deeds to, lived in, or ran alleged criminal operations out of Trump Tower in New York or other Trump properties.
* Trump was some $4 billion in debt when the Russians came to bail him out via the Bayrock Group, a real estate firm that was largely staffed, owned, and financed by Soviet émigrés who had ties to Russian intelligence and/or organized crime.
Much of my material came from FBI documents. A lot came from open-source databases. It made no sense. There was an astounding amount of data on the public record. The FBI had launched enormous investigations of the Russian mafia in the 1980s. They had staked out a New York electronics store that was a haven for KGB officers. They knew thats where the Trump Organization bought hundreds of TV sets. They had their eyes on Ivankov and other Russian mobsters who were denizens of Trumps casinos and bought and sold his condos through shell companies. They had to know that Trump laundered money for and provided a base of operations for the Russian mafia, which was, after all, a de facto state actor tied to Russian intelligence. They had to know that the Russians repeatedly bailed Trump out when he was bankrupt. They had to know that Russia owned him.
Snip
As FBI director, Freeh had warned that Russian organized crime posed a grave threat to the United States that far transcended mere criminality. It is not clear how much he was paid by Prevezon after he switched sides, but Freeh later bought a $9.38 million mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, just a 10-minute drive from Trumps Mar-a-Lago.
Then there was the late James Kallstrom, who ran the FBIs New York office in the mid-90s and oversaw successful investigations into both the Italian Mafia and later the Russian mob. Kallstrom had developed close friendships with two key players in the Trump-Russia saga. He worked closely with thenU.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Rudy Giuliani in the investigation of the Cosa Nostra network that led to the famed Mafia Commission Trial of 19851986. Going even further back, Kallstrom had also been friends with Donald Trump since around 1973, when Kallstrom was putting together a Trump-funded parade in New York to honor Vietnam veterans.
Continues
https://newrepublic.com/article/170328/charles-mcgonigal-throw-2016-election
Unger has been on to the BFEE gangsters since they were in business with the bin Laden clan.
Almost seems odd how this story is nearly completely missing from Corporate McPravda.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
33 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
I agree, he was a tool and I have never thought he is sincere about anything he says.
Escurumbele
Apr 2024
#5
Indeed. Hey comey, here's a photocopy of old evidence in a closed case. Wanna take a look?
unblock
Apr 2024
#29
To voters not swayed by the Access Hollywood tape, this may not have mattered.
TwilightZone
Apr 2024
#3
I suspect their devotion to him stems from a weird kind of "Robin Hood thing".
calimary
Apr 2024
#12
Wait. That's a hugely important speculation based on your "IF." What prosecutors have to prove is different --
ancianita
Apr 2024
#11
Right. They don't have to prove that Stormy's story *would have* changed the outcome,
Ocelot II
Apr 2024
#27
If Stormy had told two weeks before election, it might've offset Hillary email last minute
SupportSanity
Apr 2024
#21
I didn't realize anyone didn't know that. But I do realize there are lot of low-information voters out there.
Martin68
Apr 2024
#22
Charles McGonigal worked for Oleg Deripaska same time he worked as CI chief for NY FBI
Kid Berwyn
Apr 2024
#24
If Stormy [known only as a porn star at the time] came out and said "I banged Trump"...
CincyDem
Apr 2024
#26
But this is not an election interference trial. (Though the one in GA is.)
thesquanderer
Apr 2024
#30