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| Edi Rama and Charles McGonigal |
After allegations that he is connected to the former FBI official Charles McGonigal, who was arrested in the United States, Prime Minister Edi Rama has responded.
Rama claimed in a tweet that the arrest of the FBI official had nothing to do with him and that the media had been defamed.
"In the United States, a member of the FBI is being accused of things that have nothing to do with me; if they had, the investigation of those who do not tamper with evidence or spare the guilty would have brought them to justice!" "In Albania, my trial begins in the Big Brother of politics, channels, and portals!" Rama writes on Twitter.
Akuzohet në Amerikë një zyrtar i FBI për gjëra që s’kanë as edhe një lidhje me mua (se po të kishin do t’i kishte nxjerrë hetimi i atyre që nuk manipulojnë prova e as kursejnë fajtorë) dhe në Shqipëri fillon gjyqi ndaj meje në Big Brotherin e politikës, kanaleve e portaleve!
— Edi Rama (@ediramaal) January 24, 2023
In violation of US sanctions, McGonigal has been charged with aiding a Russian oligarch.
He worked with a translator for Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska who was a former Soviet diplomat.
Additionally, due to the fact that he received cash from an ex-security services officer of a different nation, additional charges have been filed against him.
According to VOA, the Justice Department said that McGonigal and a former Albanian intelligence official who had given him $225,000 US dollars for no reason also withheld information from the FBI about a trip they took to Albania in 2017.
Additionally, he is accused of concealing the identity of the person who was traveling with him and of failing to inform the FBI that he was receiving a free hotel room.