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Shkruar nga Pamfleti
In Tirana, Agron Nezaj, one of the key persons in the case filed in the United States against the former senior FBI official, Charles McGonigal, for his connections with Albania, was summoned on Monday to the Special Prosecutor's Office, where he remained for almost 6 hours. He refused to give statements or comments on the matter for which he was summoned. US Justice documents seen by Voice of America note that in the first half of 2018, Albanian-American Nezaj became a confidential FBI source for its investigations into Mr. McGonigal's contacts and movements in Albania. .
The Albanian Special Prosecutor's Office was set in motion by a lawsuit by the democratic deputy Gazmend Bardhi, where investigations were requested for the possible involvement of Prime Minister Edi Rama, who had met several times with Mr. McGonigal, in Tirana and the United States. The Albanian-American Nezaj turns out to have been the point of connection between the former FBI official and the Albanian prime minister. The latter stated that Mr. Nezaj "I have never known him before. I didn't exchange letters, nor interests or anything else, but I only met him in the presence of the former senior FBI official." In the meetings between them, Mr. Dorian Ducka was also present, who was also mentioned in the indictment against Mr. McGonigal. Mr. Ducka, a former government official, later served, as Mr. Rama himself stated, as his external advisor.
Mr. McGonigal pleaded guilty in September to $225,000 taken from Mr. Nezaj. It was McGonigal himself who in August and then in September of 2017 had asked Nezaj if he could provide him with a sum of money, which the latter gave him over the autumn of that year in three different episodes.
The Voice of America has read the document that the prosecutors of the Department of Justice submitted to the court on January 5, 2024. They are demanding 30 months in prison and a $95,000 fine "for serious breach of public trust".
The document explains that Mr. McGonigal asked for the money with the excuse that he needed it due to financial pressures and university expenses for his children and told the Albanian-American Nezaj that he would return it. Mr. Nezaj expected to cooperate with Mr. McGonigal for profitable businesses in the future.
According to prosecutors in the case, Mr. McGonigal not only failed to declare his receipt of the money, but advanced Mr. Nezaj's business interests and lied to the FBI about their joint activities, thereby concealing the fact that he had conflicts of interest and private financial interests.
“Kjo përbën në thelb korrupsion që minon transparencën dhe besimin në integritetin e Degës Ekzekutive të qeverisë. I pandehuri ishte betuar se do të hetonte dhe parandalonte krimet kundër Shteteve të Bashkuara dhe jo t’i kryente ato”, thuhet në dokument.
Pranimi i fajësisë u bë në shtator, në gjykatën federale në Uashington, në bazë të një marrëveshjeje mes prokurorëve dhe avokatëve të zotit McGonigal. Ai pranoi fajësinë për një prej pikave të aktpadisë, atë për fshehjen e provave materiale, dhe prokurorët hoqën dorë nga tetë pikat e tjera.
Zoti McGonigal ka pranuar të gjithë akuzat që kishin të bënin me Shqipërinë, përfshirë kontaktet me kryeministrin Rama dhe zotin Duçka. I pyetur nga gjykatësja Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, nëse më 25 nëntor, ai kishte “informuar Prokurorin e Departamentit të Drejtësisë … për një hetim të mundshëm kriminal për një shtetas amerikan, që ishte regjistruar për të bërë lobizëm ‘për një parti që nuk ishte e kryeministrit Rama’, zoti McGonigal u përgjigj “Po”.
Në akt-padi nuk identifikohet lobuesi amerikan dhe as partia shqiptare.
Por më 14 nëntor të vitit 2017, lobisti Nick Muzin, depozitoi në Departamentin e Drejtësisë, ndonëse me vonesë, dokumentet mbi aktivitetin lobues të disa muajve më parë për llogari të PD-së.
Ish zyrtari i FBI-së informoi Departamentin amerikan të Drejtësisë për këtë rast, më 25 nëntor, “pasi një ditë më parë ai kishte marrë informacion mbi lobistin amerikan nga personi B”, i identifikuar si Dorian Duçka.
Në atë kohë, pikërisht dy ditë më parë, më 22 nëntor, BIRN, kishte bërë publik faktin se Muzin kishte deklaruar se kishte marrë 500 mijë dollarë nga Partia Demokratike.
Ndërsa në janar 2018, ish zyrtari i FBI-së, merr sërish informacion, këtë herë nga shqiptaro-amerikani Nezaj. Ky i fundit, sipas aktakuzës, e ka marrë informacionin nga zyra e kryeministrit të Shqipërisë. Kur vitin e kaluar foli në parlament për këtë çështje zoti Rama tha se “koha së cilës i referohet ky moment, përkon me ditët pasi skandali kishte dalë në media këtu dhe unë apo zyra ime, nuk kishim asgjë tjetër lidhur me këtë, përveç informacioneve të dala në media se po t’i kishim, si do i mbanim, të fshehura?”, duke shtuar se “po të kisha patur çfarëdo informacioni, më shumë se ato që dolën në media, për faktin e tmerrshëm që rusët financonin opozitën më të madhe të këtij vendi për të rrëzuar qeverinë, do t’ia kisha përcjellë kujtdo që të mundja, pa asnjë diskutim, nga organizatat partnerë të ndjeshme për këto çështje dhe FBI-së patjetër, të parës fare”.
Por në fakt, në atë kohë, nuk ishte folur për financime ruse. Shkrimi i botuar nga BIRN nuk merrej fare me këtë çështje, e cila doli në dritë më vonë, në mars 2018, pas dyshimeve të ngritura nga një shkrimi i botuar nga revista amerikane “Mother Jones”.
On the other hand, the prime minister has never given explanations as to why Nezaj and Ducka were directly involved in this case, the first becoming the FBI's confidential source on this case, and the second, Mr. Rama's advisor, sponsoring the trips of witnesses from Europe about their meetings with the FBI.
For their part, the documents provided by the Voice of America prove that the investigation was opened in February 2018, for some inconsistencies in the filling out of FARA documents, the lobbyist registration law, and that it had raised questions among the personnel themselves. of the FBI.
FBI officials' questions about lobbyist probe request
In support of this fact, prosecutors attached a letter from an FBI agent in which some identifying information was redacted. The letter is dated March 16, 2018, and the official who wrote it asks "why, given limited resources and the fact that many field offices are struggling to investigate more serious threats," the New York office is asking for an investigation into deficiencies in registration as FARA, presenting this as a threat to national security?”
Further, the clerk writes that he wants to be able to answer his superiors if questions arise. "I would like to explain to them why we are working on a SIM/FARA issue related to Albania, when every day I fight for resources on some national security issues related to some high threat countries like. .”, says the letter where the names of other countries are deleted.
Also attached is the decision to close the investigation, dated July 25, 2019, after Mr. McGonigal's retirement, which states that "the New York FBI office has not concluded that —- (name redacted) ) committed criminal activity while representing a foreign political force and that he had completed the appropriate FARA documentation with the Department of Justice." In this decision, the Democratic Party of Albania is mentioned by name.
Justice Department prosecutors have asked the court to sentence former FBI agent Charles McGonigal to 30 months in prison and a fine of $95,000, "for grave breach of public trust," as stated in the memorandum related to the accusations in the case of Albania.
The former top FBI counterintelligence official also pleaded guilty in August in a New York court to charges of violating US sanctions on Russia by working after retirement for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who previously he had investigated it./SPAK
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