You can file this under “Not Surprising.”
According to a new report, the Democratic National Committee previously paid prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, who previously worked in the Biden Justice Department and is currently Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s top prosecutor, thousands of dollars for “political consulting” back in 2018.
“Colangelo joined Bragg’s office in December 2022 after the resignations of Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne — prosecutors who were investigating Trump and resigned in protest of Bragg’s initial unwillingness to indict the former president,” reports Fox News Digital. “Colangelo left a senior role at the Biden Justice Department to join Bragg’s team. Bragg afterward brought charges against the former president in April 2023, raising questions among some in the GOP about alleged politicization of the case.”
House Republicans are investigating Colangelo and his past work as he prosecutes Trump.
According to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by Fox News Digital, DNC Services Corp/Democratic National Committee paid Colangelo twice on Jan. 31, 2018. Colangelo was given two payments of $6,000, for a total of $12,000.
The “description” for the purpose of payment is labeled “Political Consulting.”
Neither the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office nor the DNC immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
At the time, Colangelo was serving in then-New York Attorney General Eric Scheiderman’s office as the deputy attorney general for social justice, assuming the role from Bragg. Bragg, at the time, was appointed as chief deputy attorney general.
Schneiderman resigned in May 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault. Barbara Underwood replaced him as New York attorney general.
According to Fox News Digital, in June 2018, a mere few months after the DNC paid Colangelo, Underwood, with Colangelo holding the position of executive deputy attorney general, initiated legal action against the Trump Foundation. The lawsuit alleged that Trump had used the foundation’s charitable funds to settle his legal debts. After Underwood’s term ended and Letitia James took over, Colangelo remained at the New York Attorney General’s Office. He continued to be involved in lawsuits and investigations related to Trump.
Related: Judge Merchan Fines Trump Again, Threatens Him With Jail Time
However, he joined the Biden administration on Jan. 20, 2021, and he assumed the role of acting associate attorney general in the Justice Department. Later, he transitioned to principal deputy associate attorney general, overseeing various departments such as Civil, Civil Rights, Antitrust, and Tax Divisions. Colangelo then joined Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office in December 2022. He also previously worked in the Obama administration.
Does any of this seem kosher to you?
The House Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is demanding that Attorney General Merrick Garland turn over records related to Colangelo’s employment at the Justice Department as it conducts “oversight of politically motivated prosecutions by state and local officials.”
Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts.
A charge of falsifying business records typically is a misdemeanor, but Bragg, Colangelo and New York prosecutors must convince the jury that Trump allegedly falsified those records in the furtherance of “another crime.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is now calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to release records concerning Colangelo’s tenure at the Justice Department as part of the committee’s investigation into the politically motivated prosecutions by state and local authorities against Trump.