Matthew Colangelo, a former Biden Justice Department official and one of the prosecutors in former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial in New York, is at the center of controversy after it was revealed that, in 2018, he received a payment of $12,000 from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for political consulting.
The payment, revealed by Fox News Digital, is generating more questions about the integrity of the case brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who has been highly questioned for the dubious legal theory that he took to court to charge Trump with felonies for allegedly falsifying business records during the 2016 election campaign.
According to Fox News, Colangelo, who gave opening statements in Trump’s NY criminal trial, joined DA Bragg’s office in December 2022 after the exit of Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, who were investigating the former Republican president, but resigned because Bragg allegedly did not have enough of a case to accuse Trump.
At that time, Colangelo left a senior position in Biden’s Justice Department to join Bragg’s office. Later, the Manhattan prosecutor finally filed charges against the former Republican president in April 2023.
Bragg and his office have since come under fire for allegedly politicizing justice, putting Trump on trial in the middle of a presidential campaign on charges of election interference through hush payments.
Now, Colangelo plays an important role in these complaints of instrumentalization of justice, as Republicans are investigating not only the past work of Bragg’s prosecutor in Biden’s DOJ but also his role as a DNC consultant.
According to the Fox News report, the DNC payment occurred while Colangelo was serving as deputy attorney general for social justice in the office of then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
According to Federal Election Commission records, the DNC Services Corp/Democratic National Committee paid Colangelo twice on Jan. 31, 2018. The records describe the two payments as $6,000 for “political consulting.”
In May of that year, Schneiderman resigned amid sexual assault allegations and was replaced by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood.
Following payments received by the Democratic National Committee and Schneiderman’s resignation in June 2018, Underwood, along with Colangelo as executive deputy attorney general, filed a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation.
“The lawsuit claimed that Trump used the foundation’s charitable assets to pay off his legal obligations. The Trump Foundation ultimately agreed to dissolve in December 2018,” Fox News reported.
Subsequently, Underwood left office, and Colangelo continued to work in the New York Attorney General’s Office, but under the leadership of current Attorney General Letitia James.
Both continued to work on lawsuits and investigations against Trump, but years later, in January 2021, Colangelo began working in the Trump administration as acting associate attorney general at the Department of Justice.
Today, James led a civil fraud trial against Trump and Colangelo is one of the star prosecutors in Trump’s hush money trial.
“Biden’s top DOJ hitman, Matthew Colangelo, was PAID thousands of dollars by the DNC,” Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) said after news of the payments broke in 2018. “Now he is prosecuting President Trump in a coordinated trial to save Biden’s failing campaign.”
“I am demanding Garland & Bragg turn over ALL records related to Colangelo!” the representative stated.
Biden’s top DOJ hitman, Matthew Colangelo, was PAID thousands of dollars by the DNC.
Now he is prosecuting President Trump in a coordinated trial to save Biden's failing campaign.
I am demanding Garland & Bragg turn over ALL records related to Colangelo!https://t.co/n3cU5gnJd7
— Lance Gooden (@Lancegooden) May 6, 2024
