Here are the Rama-McGonigal affairs which will be clarified by February 2024, where the Albanian Prime Minister is also implicated, how the American justice and SPAK are deepening the investigations

February can be the month of "hell" for Prime Minister Rama. Former senior FBI agent, Charles McGonigal seriously endangers the positions of the head of the Albanian government. Yesterday he was sentenced to more than four years in prison for helping a Russian oligarch seek to be removed from a US sanctions list, but in the Albanian file, which will be opened in February, McGonigal will sink completely. This file contains more serious allegations. To mitigate his sentence, he can take out all the bargains, including with Rama and the money he received from the oligarchs of the Albanian prime minister for dirty affairs. So the file of trips to Albania accuses him of keeping secret important details of the visit, from the meeting in Rama's office to the amount of 225 thousand dollars he received from Agron Neza, a former agent of the Albanian services, who served as a realtor of meetings with the Albanian prime minister, politicians and other local businessmen. What McGonigal is expected to confess is which of his services in Albania were paid for with the dollars that Agron Neza gave him. Until now he has claimed that he simply borrowed the money. But if he wants understanding from the prosecutors, he should give more than that. In addition to McGonigal, Edi Rama is also feeling the terror, as his sinking may come from the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK). The prosecutors have started investigations for months and even unconfirmed sources indicate that the head of SPAK Altin Dumani may have received the complete file of "McGonigal" from the Americans after their visit a few weeks ago to Washington. The very subject of the investigation, that is McGonigal, has accepted involvement with Rama and other Albanian government officials and culpability in relations with them to harm the Albanian opposition.

11 times when Rama comes out in the confessional, which leads to prison Charles McGonigal

The agreement between the American prosecutors and the former discreet head of the FBI, Charles McGonigal, has been reached in the drafting of a document describing details of his visits to Albania, contacts with Prime Minister Rama, other politicians, businessmen, the launch of investigations into the lobbyist. of Basha, interest in oil licenses, etc. It is understood that from the first meeting in Tirana to the handcuffing in the USA, McGonigal's relationship with Edi Rama was key, since the FBI chief's goal was to make money, as he expected to retire very soon. In the indictment of the American prosecution, Edi Rama as prime minister of Albania was mentioned 14 times to explain McGonigal's activity.

The file is cleared

The first time the phrase "prime minister of Albania" is mentioned in the presentation of Dorian Duçka, who, in addition to being a representative of a Chinese conglomerate, was also Rama's external adviser, equipped with a diplomatic passport from the prime minister. The second, third, and fourth time "the prime minister of Albania" is mentioned is for the famous meeting at the prime minister's office, when McGonigal asks him to remove one oil company with ties to the Russians and grant a license to another. As the documents prove, McGonigal later became a partner with the person who was an administrator in the oil company that benefited from his meeting with Rama. The fifth time that "the prime minister of Albania" is mentioned in the document signed by McGonigal is a reminder that US prosecutors say that the former FBI agent maintained a stable relationship with Edi Rama while taking action on his behalf . The sixth time that "the prime minister of Albania" is mentioned in the file is to show the fact that McGonigal kept the meetings with him secret. When he returned to the US, he refused to make the declarations required by law. The seventh time that "Prime Minister of Albania" is mentioned in the file where McGonigal admits to the charges is to show that he was asked to launch investigations into the lobbying of a party that was not Rama's, that is, belonging to Albania's opposition. The eighth time the "prime minister of Albania" is mentioned is for a dinner he had with McGonigal in New York. The ninth time that the "prime minister of Albania" is mentioned in the file is the fact that McGonigal did not declare to the FBI the dinner with Rama, a criminal offense for which he risks up to 5 years. In the file, it is agreed to add that there were no political conversations at the dinner. The tenth time that the "prime minister of Albania" appears in the file is to specify that the materials with which Agron Neza supplied the FBI investigation on Basha's lobbying came from the prime minister. This is one of the key moments of the file, which explains a lot about what happened in Albania after 2017. The last time the "prime minister of Albania" is mentioned in the file signed by McGonigal is another dinner in New York, where he was present of Lou Bladel, McGonigal's predecessor in his position at the FBI. Two months after this dinner, the company where Lu Bladel works signed an agreement with the Albanian government to fight tax evasion, which cost is not known.

Behind the Scenes

What is known is that for one of these dinners, McGonigal's ex-girlfriend, Alison Guerrero, confessed that the former FBI chief told her it cost $10,000. Edi Rama has denied that he had an extra-legal relationship with Charles McGonigal. The Prime Minister of Albania says that he did not specifically talk about oil licenses with him, while he indirectly admits that he gave the materials for the launch of the investigation into Lulzim Basha's lobbying in the USA. "The head of counter-terrorism of the FBI was and is my friend, there is no question. If he has his own issue with justice in the USA, it is his issue," said Rama, when asked about the relationship with Charles McGonigal. In fact, considering Mcgonigal's intentions to make money in Tirana, it is understood that his friendship with Rama was necessary, even taking advantage of the position he had, to use the FBI to pressure the Albanian opposition. The American judge, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, was also interested in the friendship of the two. The Voice of America reported that when he asked the defendant if he had maintained an ongoing relationship with the Prime Minister of Albania and Dorian Ducka, he answered briefly: Yes!

Deepening the investigations

Also, a few days ago it was confirmed in voice and image by the Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, that the Albanian file of "McGonigal" is being deepened even more. While he was present at the Senate Judiciary Oversight Committee to testify on a series of issues, American lawmakers became interested in learning about the Charles McGonigal scandal. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse asked if there had been an independent investigation, beyond the judicial investigation, into this scandal. Wray confirmed that the Inspector General of the Ministry of Justice is the one engaged in this investigation. Christopher Wray openly stated that American justice is "dismantling" McGonigall. "First, I appreciate you raising this issue. I have a few things to say. First, our counterintelligence division is the one that discovered McGonigal's transgressions, tracked him down and arrested him. We are very focused on trying to determine in all the ways you can imagine what the things he may have been influencing during his abusive behavior. Second, I think there are two prosecutors' offices involved, New York and the District of Columbia. So there are two issues, at the pre-sentence stage and his cooperation could potentially be appropriate. We cannot say how far we will go here, but I can tell you that we engaged the Inspector General because we wanted to understand the true extent of what Mr. McGonigal has done and what he knows," he said. So in this situation the position of Prime Minister Rama is even more burdened. The former FBI agent admitted that he received 225 thousand dollars from Agron Nezaj and that he met Edi Rama. It is even said that the prime minister was questioned by the FBI during his last visit to New York.