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6 months ago
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The New York prosecutor in the New York City hush money case against Donald Trump was previously hired for 'political consulting' by the Democratic National Committee.
The revelations regarding attorney Matthew Colangelo raises concerns over the perceived politicalization of the multiple cases against the former president – and specifically the first case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office.
Colangelo, according to a Fox News Digital review of Federal Election Commission records, was paid $12,000 by the DNC on January 31, 2018. It was distributed by DNC Services Corp/Democratic National Committee in two separate payments of $6,000 on the same day.
The description listed by the FEC for the purpose of the payment to the attorney is labeled 'Political Consulting.'
Trump has appeared in Manhattan criminal court for the last month for the case alleging he falsified business documents related to a payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet ahead of the 2016 election about their alleged extramarital affair in 2006.
New York hush money case prosecutor Matthew Colangelo was paid $12,000 by the DNC in 2018 for 'political consulting'
Trump has appeared for weeks now in the first criminal case brought against him alleging he falsified business records for hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels
Colangelo delivered opening statements in the criminal trial and questioned witnesses over the last three weeks.
The prosecutor left a senior role at Biden's Justice Department to join Bragg's office in December 2022.
His hiring came after both attorneys Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne resigned out of protest when Bragg was initially unwilling to indict Trump.
House Republicans are already investigating Colangelo while he prosecutes Trump considering his connections to the Democratic Party and his past work with the Biden administration.
Just four months after Colangelo was brought on to the Manhattan DA's office, Bragg decided to bring charges against the former president in April 2023. This has raised concerns among Republicans that the case is politicized.
When the DNC paid Colangelo the $12k, he was serving as deputy attorney general for social justice in the New York Attorney General's office.
Payments from the DNC to Colangelo raise even more concerns about the partisanship and politicalization of the prosecution
Colangelo left a senior role at Biden's Justice Department to join Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office in December 2022
In June 2018, just a few months after receiving the payments, then-New York District Attorney Barbara Underwood filed a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation claiming the then-president used charitable assets to pay legal obligations. Colangelo was executive deputy attorney general at the time.
The Trump Foundation dissolved in December 2018.
Colangelo continued to work on Trump lawsuits and investigations in New York under Attorney General Letitia James' tenure when she took over in 2018.
When Biden took office in January 2021, Colangelo began serving as acting associate attorney general at the Department of Justice. He then became the principal deputy associate attorney general at the DOJ.
He went back to New York to serve in Bragg's team in December 2022.
Colangelo also previously worked in the Obama administration in a number of different roles, including for the DOJ's civil rights division and as chief of staff to Tom Perez, who was Labor Secretary at the time.
Perez was chairman of the DNC when Colangelo was paid $12,000 for political consulting.
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