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4 months ago
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House Republicans are demanding that Trump hush money prosecutors Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Matthew Colangelo testify before Congress.
The pair who successfully secured a guilty verdict against the former president Thursday have been requested to appear before the GOP-led House Weaponization Committee on June 13.
Former president Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts related to falsifying business documents to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
'BREAKING [Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio,] will demand Alvin Bragg and Matthew Colangelo to appear for hearing on June 13, 2024 to testify about the unprecedented political prosecution of President Trump,' the committee posted on X.
Matthew Colangelo worked on the New York attorney general's investigation of the Trump Organization before joining the Justice Department
In a Friday letter addressed to Bragg, Jordan wrote: 'This hearing will examine actions by state and local prosecutors to engage politically motivated prosecutions of federal officials, in particular the recent political prosecution of President Donald Trump by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.'
The chairman also sent an identical letter to Colangelo.
Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee in addition to the Weaponization Committee, has already begun an investigation into Colangelo, saying his case against Trump was 'politicized.'
'New York County District Attorney (DANY) Alvin Bragg is engaged in one such politicized prosecution, which is being led in part by Matthew B. Colangelo, a former prosecutor in your office and subsequent senior Justice Department official in the Biden administration,' Jordan wrote in a May 15 letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James.
He claimed that Colangelo has an 'obsession' with investigating Trump 'rather than prosecuting a crime.'
'Given the perception that the Justice Department is assisting in District Attorney Bragg’s politicized prosecution, we write to request information and documents related to Mr. Colangelo’s employment at the New York Attorney General’s Office.'
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (C) speaks as Manhattan prosecutor Joshua Steinglass (L) listens during a press conference held after former President Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts in his criminal trial
Trump has alleged that Bragg campaigned to be DA on the premise that he would prosecute Trump and his businesses
Colangelo was a high-ranking Department of Justice official in Biden's administration before leaving to join the Manhattan DA's office in December 2022.
He has worked on multiple cases involving Trump and his organizations.
And one legal observer, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, told DailyMail.com earlier this month that Colangelo has long wanted to nail Trump for a crime.
'Moving from [The Justice Department] to the Manhattan DA’s office must mean that someone is a true believer,' said Yoo, who served in the George W. Bush administration and now teaches law at the University of California at Berkeley.
'It suggests that the prosecutor here is after the man, Trump, and not the crime,’ said Yoo.
Colangelo's move from DOJ to the Manhattan DA's office was technically a demotion, Yoo said, adding the move was highly 'unusual.'
After all, justice is supposed to be blind. And indeed, Colangelo’s career step-down has raised concern.
'Joe Biden's former #3 official at the Department of Justice left DC to help go after President Trump in New York,' wrote Republican Senator Tom Cotton on social media in April as the case began.
'All the Democrat-led prosecutions of Trump are as concocted as they are political.’
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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