(Ken Silva, Headline USA) In 2020, a photo of a portly FBI agent kneeling in support of the Black Lives Matter movement took the internet by storm—both for the ridiculous imagery, and the fact that the bureau was playing politics at a time when many of the country’s major cities were overrun by crime and violent demonstrators.
A few years later, that agent, Sarah Linden, was made assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. And now, she’s in an even more powerful position: deputy assistant director of the FBI headquarters. She’s also in charge of Russian counterintelligence in the national security branch, according to the Washington Examiner.
“In other words, Linden is now the top U.S. counterspy against the Kremlin,” the Examiner reported Friday.
Sarah Linden took the kneel for BLM and got promoted to ASAC at @FBIWFO. pic.twitter.com/ejjNohS6gZ
— J Michael Waller (@JMichaelWaller) March 28, 2023
As absurd as Linden’s promotions may seem, she has a low bar to meet at the Russian counterintelligence division. A little over a year ago, the former head of the FBI’s New York counterintelligence division, Charles McGonigal, was sentenced to 50 months in prison for helping a Russian oligarch avoid U.S. sanctions.
McGonigal had been one of the key agents in the FBI’s politically motivated a baseless investigation into whether Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election.
“He was one of the first officials to learn that a Trump campaign official had bragged that the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton, sparking the investigation known as Operation Crossfire Hurricane,” Business Insider reported in September 2022.
“Later that year, FBI Director James Comey promoted McGonigal to oversee counterintelligence operations in New York.”
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
