Trump Pardon Buries FBI's Secret Work for Putin's Oligarchs

[jmbar2]

Source: Byline Times Jackie Singh 11 February 2026

In 15 January 2026, President Donald Trump pardoned a former FBI counterintelligence agent who had refused to testify about his work for Oleg Deripaska and Dmitry Rybolovlev – two Russian oligarchs with direct ties to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. The pardon came six months after the daughter of the former agent’s co-defendant, Julio Herrera Velutini, donated $3.5 million to Trump-aligned super PACs. The decision permanently sealed the record of services US intelligence officials secretly provided for sanctioned Russian networks.

Former FBI agent Mark T. Rossini’s business partner – Charles McGonigal, the agency’s former counterintelligence chief in New York – is currently serving more than six years in federal prison for taking Deripaska’s money.
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By pardoning Rossini alongside Herrera and Vázquez, Trump sent a clear signal. Foreign actors and domestic propagandists can now tell a sanitised story in which the President saved an FBI whistleblower from persecution for supporting a pro-Trump governor.

This version of history conveniently erases Rossini’s 2009 felony conviction for illegal database access and his subsequent years of service to sanctioned Russian interests; his partnership with a disgraced counterintelligence chief and his strategic use of the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying about his work for Putin’s inner circle. Most importantly, it ensures that the classified records detailing what these American officials actually did for Russian networks will remain under lock and key.

Read more: https://bylinetimes.com/2026/02/11/trump-pardon-buries-fbis-secret-work-for-putins-oligarchs/

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The former FBI agent’s pardon came after his co-defendant’s daughter donated $3.5 million to Donald Trump

By Jackie Singh 11 February 2026
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[Botany]

1. McGonigal* was on Olge Dirapaska's payroll** as he was the NYC's FBI office head of counter intelligence ...

…. in 2016 where he somehow helped to force Comer to bring up Hillary’s emails again and got
the NY Times to put that story on its front page along with another front page story that said,
“the FBI sees no connection between the Trump Campaign and Russia.

Btw in 2022 McGonigal helped to finance Tony DeVolder (real name) aka George Santos’
campaign. Russia pays for Republicans because they know they will weaken and divide
America.



* A Russian operative who Trump will soon Pardon.
** connected to Putin

[Cheezoholic]

2. Yes, this rabbit hole is so deep its scary. 100% our govt and DC in general is full of Russian assets n/t

[Botany]

8. No wonder that Putin knew that Trump liked "water sports" because his intelligence people found

… out that he liked that shit from Epstein or Musk or one of the child sex workers or his agents who that took Trump to a Las Vegas club in the winter of 2013 that featured pee pee shows and then Trump in
November of 2013 when Trump was in Russia for his Miss Universe pageant Putin got Trump on tape
watching 2 Russian prostitutes “going liquid.” You can bet that Putin has all kinds of dirt on American
Republicans that he feeds to Trump to keep them in line.

Trump’s Russia, Russia, Russia line just tells me he knows he is 100% Russian dirty.

Look for McGonigal to either be pardoned and then Epsteined. He is a loose end and Vlad
doesn’t like loose ends.

[jmbar2]

12. I had missed the George Santos connection...

weakest of the weak links.

[travelingthrulife]

3. A 34 count convicted felon and rapist is pardoning fellow criminals.

What a country!

[Clouds Passing]

4. And H Nutlick is the money launderer for DumpCo and Associates Crime Gang

[calimary]

5. And how much is HE getting paid for HIS "services"?

[Clouds Passing]

7. He gets perpetual freedom

[mountain grammy]

6. Corruption so deep we cannot imagine

we are becoming Russia.

[SunSeeker]

9. K & R for exposure

[mdbl]

10. Another of the numerous corrupt pardons by the convicted felon

Good job Magats!

[liberalgunwilltravel]

11. Correct me if I am mistaken

By accepting a pardon, one is admitting their guilt and can no longer plead the 5th and thus is legally required to answer related questions truthfully. I know truth and Trump are mutually exclusive, but couldn't a future DOJ pursue answers?

[Attilatheblond]

13. Trump is the Pope of Capitalism, defending all manner of abuse & selling Indulgences

along with Visas and Citizenship

[gfarber]

14. Rossini Pardons

In January of twenty-six’s dawn,
When frost on the Potomac shone,
Donald Trump decreed with a stroke,
That an old Bureau bloke
Be pardoned and left well alone.

This agent declined to explain
His ties that were anything but plain—
With Oleg Deripaska in the mix,
And Dmitry Rybolovlev’s tricks,
Whose circles knew Vladimir Putin by name.

Six months after donors had weighed
Three and a half million paid,
From kin of Herrera Velutini,
The timing seemed hardly teeny—
To super PAC coffers conveyed.

The record was sealed with a thud,
Stamped shut in bureaucratic mud;
What services quietly flowed
To networks once sanction-bestowed
Stayed locked like a file under stud.

Mark Rossini once walked with a pass,
Through databases none else could amass;
A felony back in ’09,
Then ventures less easy to shine—
With partners whose reputes would crass.

For Charles McGonigal too
Took rubles that weren’t Bureau-blue;
From Deripaska’s own store
He pocketed plenty—and more—
Now prison’s his long rendezvous.

Thus pardons for Rossini’s side,
With Herrera and Vázquez allied,
Cast history tidy and neat:
A whistleblower saved from defeat—
While awkward old chapters must hide.

So Fifth-Amendment replies
And inner-circle ties
Grow faint in the sanctioned cold mist;
And what in those dossiers exists
Remains where the key never lies.

[jmbar2]

16. AI, but interesting...

[JoseBalow]

15. Krasnov covering up his crimes

This administration is a crime spree in progress, and nobody is stopping any of it.

[jmbar2]

17. They don't even try to cover it up anymore...

Just trying to make sure they don't go to jail over it.

I can't believe the depths of criminality we have sunk to in the US government. To fix it will take years, maybe decades.

It will be the most important election issues from here on out - how to fix the mess.

[Buddyzbuddy]

18. "I'm not a puppet, you're the puppet", riiight!

Exchange after Hillary Clinton called the Felon, Putin's puppet.

He loves the dumb people.

[LiberalLovinLug]

19. Russia Russia Russia