One of the prosecutors pursuing the “hush-money” criminal case against former president Donald Trump previously received payments from the Democratic National Committee.
Top Trump prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, a former Biden Justice Department official, was paid $12,000 by the DNC for “political consulting” in January 2018, according to Federal Election Commission records. The payments were first reported by Fox News on Monday.
At the time of the payments, Colangelo was working for then–New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D), who resigned months later following allegations of sexual assault made at the height of the #MeToo movement. Colangelo played a major role in the lawsuit filed against the Trump Foundation by Schneiderman’s replacement Barbara Underwood soon after she took over. The Trump Foundation was dissolved in December 2018.
Colangelo joined Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office in December 2022 after holding a senior position with the Justice Department. Now, he is prosecuting Trump on 34 charges in connection with a $130,000 “hush-money” payment sent by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen to porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Daniels has alleged Trump had an extramarital affair with her, a claim he denies.
To begin Trump’s ongoing criminal trial, Colangelo portrayed the payment to Daniels as part of a “criminal scheme” to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election by suppressing damaging information. Much of Trump’s trial has focused on the supposed conspiracy and salacious details of “catch and kill” operations rather than the actual business-records crimes alleged in Trump’s indictment last year. Trump’s defense has argued the “catch and kill” payments were legal and sought to portray Cohen as the mastermind behind the payments, not Trump himself.
Cohen is the prosecution’s star witness, and he is expected to testify later this week. However, he has since been disbarred after pleading guilty to perjury for lying to Congress. Cohen also pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations, which Bragg’s prosecution is not allowed to use against Trump.
Bragg’s prosecution of Trump on felony charges for falsifying business records hinges on the alleged coverup of underlying campaign-finance violations, a federal offense not being pursued by federal prosecutors.
House Republicans are investigating Colangelo’s employment at Bragg’s office and whether the Justice Department is coordinating with the Manhattan district attorney on the Trump case. Bragg is an elected Democrat who campaigned on prosecuting Trump. Besides the Trump case, Bragg typically operates as a progressive, soft-on-crime prosecutor.
Trump and his allies have frequently accused Bragg and the Justice Department of waging political prosecutions against Trump to derail his presidential campaign against incumbent President Joe Biden.
Judge Juan Merchan, the New York judge overseeing the Trump case, is threatening to have Trump jailed if he continues to violate Merchan’s expansive gag order. Trump is not allowed to criticize witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, and Merchan’s family. The judge’s daughter is a veteran Democratic strategist whose clients have fundraised off the Trump prosecution.