Will Reforms Help?

Who Will Watch the Watchers?

I am sure everyone reading these words is familiar with the case of Charles McGonigal, the retired high-ranking FBI Agent who was recently arrested for illegally helping some Russians evade U.S. economic sanctions (McGonigal Arrest) . This Substack publication discusses reform of the FBI and therefore this article presents five possible reforms that might have prevented Mcgonigal’s alleged illegal activities.

1.     Implement intensified financial checks of FBI executives. Currently, most FBI employees must submit information about their personal finances to the FBI periodically. Clearly, the current FBI employee financial reporting did not stop McGonigal from committing crimes. More extensive financial reporting by all FBI employees is probably too expensive to be worthwhile. However, more extensive financial reporting by FBI executives might be cost effective. This enhanced financial reporting could focus on the top 5% or 10% of FBI employees by rank. As described in the indictment, McGonigal took some steps to hide his financial connections to the Russians. An enhanced financial check might have revealed McGonigal’s attempts to conceal his finances.

2.     Implement financial checks of retired FBI executives. According to the linked indictment (McGonical Indictment), most of McGonigal’s illegal activity took place after he retired. If retired FBI executives were required to continue their financial disclosures for five years after they retire, they might be deterred from engaging in illegal activity.

3.     Conduct more frequent background security investigations of FBI executives. After FBI Agent Robert Hanssen was arrested (Robert Hanssen), the FBI expanded periodic security checks of all FBI employees. Currently, the goal is to re-evaluate every FBI employee’s suitability to maintain a security clearance every five years. For FBI executives, these checks could be done every two years. These biannual checks might deter misbehavior.

4.     Conduct more frequent polygraph examinations of FBI executives. Currently, all FBI employees must undergo polygraph examinations before being hired and periodically after they are hired. Your humble correspondent underwent one polygraph examination during his nearly 25 years as an FBI Special Agent. Mandatory annual polygraph examinations of FBI executives might have allowed the FBI to deter McGonigal’s suspect activities or discover them at an early stage.

5.     Strengthen outside oversight of the FBI. There is a good chance McGonigal was violating FBI rules and regulations (not to mention federal criminal laws) before he retired. Many people suspect that the FBI, like most federal bureaucracies, does not properly police its high level executives. Perhaps oversight of FBI high level executives should be handled by an outside entity that is be independent of the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice. That reform might have prevented McGonigal’s misdeeds.

But all of the above reforms illustrate the root issue. Today, not all FBI executives can be trusted to fulfill their duties honestly.