Wednesday, January 25, 2023

And whoosh! The McGonigal spy story is gone!

Was there ever a conspiracy theory more bizarre, more crazy, than believing that Russia was behind Trump's unexpected 2016 election victory? 
But just because something sounds crazy doesn't mean it isn't true. 
For years now, I have believed somebody close to Trump was working for Putin - Trump himself is too stupid to play a spying role himself, and too ill-informed, but he is also so credulous it is easy to get him to believe just about anything. Far too often Trump and the people working for him did or said something for Putin's benefit, too many times to be explained by mere coincidence. 
So now a guy high-up in the New York office of the FBI has been arrested and charged with working for Russia. Quel suprise! And a few more shoes might be dropping: As you can see, there are all sorts of ramifications to this story, questions about how compromised were the people in Trump's administration, issues about how extensively these ties to Russia have been reported over the years, and so forth. 
One would expect that all of the New York and Washington reporters would be ON IT! 
Well, not so much. 
New York Times - one story updated today for page A20 of the print edition. 
Washington Post - one story yesterday, and an online note today which only said the indictments "could undercut efforts to ramp up economic sanctions on wealthy Russians after the invasion of Ukraine."
Talking Points Memo - several stories, including one today "Some of the Big Questions about the McGonigal case"  Josh Marshal writes: 
...Was he compromised by Russia? Or was he just compromised by Deripaska? 
...We simply have too little information to know what we’re dealing with in this case. An egregious but largely isolated instance of public corruption? Or something deeper that reshapes our understanding of some of the most consequential events of the last decade? 
Not clear.
Emptywheel - Marcy Wheeler writes No Charles McGonigal Likely Isn't Responsible For That Part Of The Russia Investigation You Hate, focused on areas of McGonigal potential sabotage. She concludes:
 Given how DOJ has charged these two indictments (and given the charges they have yet to file), I suspect they will try to get McGonigal to plead to one side and cooperate in the other — in part to unpack everything he did before and after he left the FBI. But even if they do, they’re not going to tell us what he was up to.
Balloon Juice - in his daily Ukraine update yesterday, Adam Silverman writes: 
So the big Russia and Ukraine adjacent news in the US today was the arrest of the former Supervisory Special Agent in Charge (SSAC) for Counterintelligence in the New York Field Office Charles McGonigal. As Talking Points Memo has reported, McGonigal was dirty for years before he officially got in bed with Deripaska. And he’s not the only member of the FBI’s NY Field Office to be busted colluding with Russian/post-Soviet oligarchs, who are also organized crime leaders, as well as catspaws and trusted agents for Putin. 
I’ve said two things over and over and over again here since 2015: 
The New York Field Office of the FBI thinks that it is running the Russian and post-Soviet mob when, in reality, the Russian and post-Soviet mob is running the New York Field Office of the FBI. 
We are penetrated at all levels by those under Russian influence and/or control. And not just the Russians, a whole host of adversaries, competitors, and even partner and client states assets as well.
Item 1 above was what happened to the Boston Field Office in regard to the Irish mob, which is how the whole mess with Whitey Bulger happened. 
I fully expect we’ll find out that SSAC McGonigal was playing footsie with Deripaska, or Derispaska’s trusted agents, well before he officially went to work for him. 
Finally, here is a succinct summary of the whole story, from Duncan Black (Atrios) over at Eschaton: 
Not just a corrupt, but Russian agent infiltrated NYC FBI obvious went all out to swing the 2016 election, aided by America's Greatest Man, James Comey, for whatever reason, and since covered up by various investigations.  
Others know the details better than I do, but the contours have been pretty clear for awhile even as the new details pop up.  
Others include high profile journalists, who aren't talking.
What convinces me that Black likely has the best take on this is that the other "mainstream" media don't even pretend to be interested today in following up on the story - instead, they seem to be turning it into "something something Ukraine sanctions" and everybody knows how dull that is.
So whoosh, its gone...
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2 comments:

DBK said...

Hi Cathie. Long time, no see. Just turned 65 the other day. Officially a Senior Citizen. Now I get Senior Citizen discounts. Woohoo! $2 off!

Disengaged from politics. I guess I'll never live to see the US invade Canada given the Glorious Five Year Plan is now in its nineteenth year. It's just too hard to get good help.

I just live my life as an example now. Vegan, atheist, gardener. Death stalks all of us and life is too short for hate and conflict.

2:52 pm
Cathie from Canada said...

Hi DBK - sorry, I just saw your comment and I'm a little late replying. Nice to hear from you again. Congrats on retirement - we love it!
Our son is vegan too, by the way!
Oh, and Tucker Carlson is talking about the US invading Canada, so maybe you will get to see this someday!

1:30 am

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