Gaslit Nation has been studying Russian oligarch-aiding FBI traitors since our podcast launched in 2018, and what did we get for our diligent efforts? Yet another traitor! This week we discuss the indictment of Charlie McGonigal, the former top counterintelligence official in the New York field office who was secretly working for mega-oligarch Oleg Deripaska while pretending to investigate him. (You may remember Deripaska from our classic T-shirt slogan “You can’t make a deal with the guy who won the aluminum wars in the car bomb 1990s in Russia, you just can’t.” Rolls right off the tongue!)   We analyze the McGonigal case in the context of familiar Gaslit Nation topics – the top heads of the FBI who went on to work for the Russian mafia, how James Comey betrayed America to serve Semyon Mogilevich, the strange behavior of the FBI and the media during the 2016 election, the partnership between Deripaska and Paul Manafort, the partnership between Deripaska and Mitch McConnell, the desire of McConnell to make Merrick Garland head of the FBI as all this illegal activity was transpiring, and how the McGonigal case and general FBI treason affects Russia’s war on Ukraine. This episode was recorded during our second ever Gaslit Nation Live Event and we thank everyone who showed up for this historic occasion!   For our bonus, which will be out on Friday, we answered a LOT of questions from our Patreon subscribers! You can listen to our Q & As if you subscribe at the Truth-Teller level or higher, and you can send in your own question and get it answered in depth by subscribing at the Democracy Defender level or higher.   Times are tough in media, politics, and life and we are VERY grateful to you for keeping our show going! While other sites put up paywalls, we have kept our weekly Gaslit Nation episodes free and provided free transcripts to keep it as accessible as possible during this information war. We also have been able to retain and pay the same small staff of four people for nearly five years. Thanks to you all for supporting truly independent media, please keep it coming!   Show Notes:   Our opening song was “We Can't Breathe” with music by Rayna Zemel & Chief Wakil, and lyrics by Chief Wakil & Kelli Wakili. You can find Rayna on Instagram @rayzemel and @wintersrockentertainment, and on Soundcloud at soundcloud.com/rayzemi.   Correction to live taping: Special Counsel John Durham didn't indict computer scientists, only a cybersecurity lawyer in regards to the Trump-Alfa Bank allegations: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/01/us/politics/trump-alfa-bank-indictment.html   Charles McGonigal Named Special Agent in Charge of the Counterintelligence Division for the New York Field Office — FBI   Former Senior F.B.I. Official in New York Charged With Aiding Oligarch https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/nyregion/fbi-money-laundering-charles-mcgonigal.html   Former senior FBI official accused of working for Russian he investigated https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/01/23/mcgonigal-deripaska-indictment-fbi/   Russian Oligarch and Associates Indicted on U.S. Sanctions Charges https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/us/politics/russian-oligarch-sanctions-citizenship.html   Trump Server Mystery Produces Fresh Conflict https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/01/us/politics/trump-alfa-bank-indictment.html   Here’s How Donald Trump’s Paul Manafort Helped Create Chaos In Ukraine https://www.thedailybeast.com/heres-how-donald-trumps-paul-manafort-helped-create-chaos-in-ukraine   Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska & his links to British politicians - BBC Newsnight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziKUzn-5UcU   Trump Server Mystery Produces Fresh Conflict https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/01/us/politics/trump-alfa-bank-indictment.html   Want to Understand President Obama's Foreign Policy? https://www.huffpost.com/entry/want-to-understand-presid_b_6834540   Billionaire mogul with Russia ties emerges as major donor to Hochul, numerous pols https://nypost.com/2022/03/06/billionaire-mogul-with-russia-ties-emerges-as-major-donor-to-hochul/   U.S. Politicians Can't Stop Taking Len Blavatnik's Money https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2019/10/21/u-s-politicians-cant-stop-taking-len-blavatniks-money/

Welcome to a series we're now doing called the Florida Super Special. Since the state of Florida has had such a big impact on the hellscape we now find ourselves in, setting things off with helping bring George W. Bush and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to power in 2000, this may be our first Florida Super Special, but it won't be our last. In this bonus, you'll hear just some of the ways Russian intelligence is keeping the FBI busy in Florida, and what that might mean for the 2024 presidential election which might see Russian asset Trump anoint DeSantis as his successor.   For those who want to buy a ticket to the Gaslit Nation Live Taping and Live Audience Q&A this coming Tuesday January 24 at 12pm ET, you can do so by supporting the show at the Democracy Defender level or higher on Patreon.com/gaslit -- you can always cancel or switch back to your current support tier once the taping is done. We'll send out the Zoom details Tuesday morning to subscribers on Patreon at the Democracy Defender level or higher. The Zoom link goes live at 11:45am ET where early birds can hear Sarah and Andrea plan that week's show before hitting the record button at noon ET. We'll post the video of the episode (but not the Q&A) for subscribers to the Truth-teller level and higher. We're not posting the video of the Q&A of the live taping since some participants prefer not to be shown and would like to protect their privacy, which we understand. So come join us, if you can, on Tuesday!    

Join Gaslit Nation for a live taping January 24 at 12pm EST and stay for the live Q&A. Get tickets by supporting the show at the Democracy Defender ($10) or higher on Patreon by visiting Patreon.com/Gaslit. Join fifteen minutes early, at 11:45am EST, to see Sarah and Andrea put together the show before hitting the record button!    ***   For a month, we at Gaslit Nation have been pulling together disparate strands in the saga of Biden and Trump and the classified records found in each of their homes in order to weave you the tapestry of horrors we present on today’s program! At heart, this is not a story about Biden or Trump, but about the DOJ enabling elite criminal impunity in order to protect the secrets of broken institutions…like the DOJ itself. We break down the Biden documents and the new special counsel, the differences between Biden’s case and Trump’s, how the House GOP plans to weaponize the case and how the DOJ seeks to equivocate in order to weasel out of enforcing accountability, what a Biden impeachment trial would look like, whether Biden will pull a Nixon and resign, and what various successors should look like if he quits or decides not to run again in 2024. We remain in dangerous times and it is critical to look at the big picture threats.   Many of those threats coalesce around one state – Florida! For our special weekly bonus episode, available to Patreon subscribers at the Truth-Teller level or higher, Andrea breaks down the history of Florida’s political corruption. (Don’t worry, Kathy Hochul watchers – she’s planning a New York sequel soon.) We also answer questions sent in from our subscribers at the Democracy Defender level or higher. If you are subscribing at that level, you are invited to a live Gaslit Nation taping on Tuesday January 24 at noon EST! We give more information about how that will work in today’s show, and we will post more online, so stay tuned.   Gaslit Nation remains an entirely independent show, which is why we’re able to do deep dives on topics other outlets are not allowed to touch. (Or are too afraid to touch!) We are extremely grateful to you for making this possible. If you appreciate what we do, please consider subscribing on Patreon to get bonus features and to keep Gaslit Nation going. Thank you!  

America has a new leading export – sedition! Globe-trotting unpunished coup-plotter Steve Bannon and his elite operatives have moved their operation to Brazil, attempting to violently unseat democratically elected president Lula. Meanwhile, ousted dictator Jair Bolsonaro has taken up residence in Florida, the home base of unpunished mafiosos from around the world! We discuss the events in Brazil, how much more effective Lula’s response was to their attacks than the Biden administration has been to 1/6, and how the DOJ’s refusal to hold criminal elites accountable has created a global national security crisis. We also discuss the continuing downfall of Congress, which has become less of a governing body than a gathering place for social media addicts attempting to build political personality cults. These reality TV show wannabes exist not to pass policy or protect the American people but to follow the path of the departed Donald Trump, a celebrity/criminal/politician hybrid cheered on by an army of “people” indistinguishable from bots. We also discuss the cliquish and cultish behavior in the Democratic party that has served only to strengthen the GOP’s fascist agenda. We also praise the rare officials who are exceptions to this behavior – new California Senate candidate Katie Porter, for one. Never forget that congresspeople are public servants and they work for you, not the other way around!  For our bonus episode, available on Patreon, we talk more about Brazil and about the contrived chaos in the House last week, in which Kevin McCarthy staged a feud with the Seditious Caucus in order to frame himself as a “moderate”, which he is not! We also answer questions from our listeners about covid lies and buried statistics, the failures of the DOJ and the January 6 committee, and much more. You can listen to this bonus by joining at the Truth-Teller level, and send us questions to answer in depth by joining at the Democracy Defender level or higher. Democracy Defenders are also invited to participate in our special live taping of Gaslit Nation on January 24! So sign up today, and we will see you soon – we could not make this show without you!

Our opening clip is from a November 2022 video of Steve Bannon, serial violent coup-plotter. It was put out by Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of defeated former Brazillian president Jair Bolsonaro, who visited Florida in November, meeting with Bannon and Trump. His father is currently in the suburbs of Orlando. Florida is a growing hotbed of the global fascist movement. For the full discussion and to receive our weekly bonus episodes, subscribe at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won't hear every episode unless you subscribe to the show: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit