The article did not say this. Where did you get that?
Here's the best article I've got to even somewhat support what SilentPony is saying, though it definitely doesn't do that, cause SilentPony is wrong.
In October of 2016, the FBI raided Democratic politician Anthony Weiner on suspicion of soliciting child pornography (he sexted teenagers). Upon seizing his computer, they happened to find emails between Weiner/his wife and Hillary Clinton, sent from Clinton's controversial email server, which had been deleted off her server before the FBI took possession of that.
The New York office, who allegedly held grudges against Clinton from her time as a New York politician, sent this info to the higher-ups in Washington. You can see the message they sent here:
This is what eventually triggered James Comey's announcement that more had been found about Hillary's emails. Article about that here:
The part where SilentPony is wrong is the timeline. That correspondence was sent on October 3rd. On October 4th, McGonigal was appointed to that post. He could not have instigated that investigation. The link above suggests that maybe he was involved in potential leaks that Comey cites as his reason for going public, but Comey is the one who gave him that position after he had that information, why would he appoint someone he fears would leak to a position at the office he's afraid of leaking?
But just so you know, the other side has their own theories:
Charles McGonigal was among the first FBI officials to learn that a Trump adviser told a diplomat that Russia had “political dirt.”
nypost.com
And it's a bit more solidly founded. In 2020, during the Senate investigation into Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI investigation into links between Russia and Trump's campaign, Jonathon Moffa who was involved in the investigation (I believe named on the FISA warrant) testified to the Senate staffers that he had received an email from Charles McGonigal "which then served as the basis for the opening of the case". Page 33 here:
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Jonathan Moffa Redacted FINAL.pdf
McGonigal was not getting paid to help Trump: he was getting paid to help Russian oligarchs, as stated in the link SilentPony had in post 11,283. He allegedly helped them in two ways. I believe what he plead guilty of is accepting payment from sanctioned Russian figures to try to get them off the sanction list. He has also been accused of using his post in New York to launch FBI investigations into other Russian oligarchs who were rivals of his benefactors.
With that in mind, consider this timeline:
1) July 2016: McGonigal emails info to Moffa which becomes the basis for investigating Trump's campaign.
2) October 3rd: The FBI post in New York finds emails that might be bad news for Clinton's campaign.
3) October 4th: James Comey appoints McGonigal to the New York office, in charge of counterintelligence against Russia.
4) *Sometime in October: The FBI gets a FISA warrant to wiretap Carter Paige, on the basis that he was working with sanctioned Russian oligarchs behind the scenes.
5) 2018: McGonigal is seen doing favors for a Russian oligarch who rivals the one Carter Paige communicated with, and whom was known for extorting and threatening the lives of business rivals.
The * above is one piece of information I cannot find. I do not know what day in October the warrant to tap Carter Paige was requested. But statistically, it probably came after the 4th. And that would certainly fit the pattern. In a way, this actually takes weight away from right-wing conspiracy theories, as the view on the right has been that Carter Paige was targeted by the FBI as a means to get to Trump, and now it very much seems like Trump was actually just collateral damage in a fight between Russian oligarchs where one managed to weaponize the FBI to go after the other.
That being said, the idea that McGonigal sabotaged the 2016 election to favor Trump is pretty laughable given the evidence of his involvement investigating Trump associates as well as the pure anachronism of suggesting he personally reopened the Hillary email controversy.
www.theguardian.com
apnews.com
www.nbcnews.com
