A newly released watchdog report has revealed that a disgraced former FBI counterintelligence official alerted an employee of a Chinese company with connections to Hunter and James Biden about a federal investigation into the firm.
Charles McGonigal, who once led the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division in New York, informed a businessman working for the China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC) that the company was under FBI scrutiny, according to the Justice Department inspector general’s findings.
Between October 2016 and September 2018, McGonigal oversaw the bureau’s probe into CEFC and executive Patrick Ho, who ran its nonprofit arm and was linked to Hunter Biden through past business dealings.
The inspector general’s 23-page report, released Thursday, accused McGonigal of engaging in “disgraceful conduct” and concluded that he had “intentionally damaged an important criminal case, violated the public trust, and compromised the integrity of the FBI.” It added: “The betrayal infects the morale of those who serve the FBI with honor and integrity and undermines the public’s confidence in the FBI.”
McGonigal, who was known to colleagues as Charlie, admitted in 2023 to multiple offenses, including secretly working on behalf of a Russian oligarch. He is currently serving a six-year prison sentence at a federal facility in Pennsylvania.
Lawyers who recently represented McGonigal, as well as attorneys for Hunter and James Biden, did not immediately return requests for comment. The CEFC, meanwhile, ceased operations before 2020, according to publicly available records.
