Exclusive: The Democratic National Committee paid Trump prosecutor Matthew Colangelo thousands of dollars for “political consulting” in 2018, Fox News Digital revealed.
Colangelo gave the opening statement in former President Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial and is the top prosecutor in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office in the case.
Colangelo joined Bragg’s office in December 2022 following the resignations of Mark Pomerantz and Carrie Dunn, the prosecutors investigating Trump. Both prosecutors resigned in protest of Bragg’s initial reluctance to indict Trump. Mr. Colangelo left a senior position in the Biden Justice Department to join Mr. Bragg’s team. Bragg then accused the former president in April 2023, raising questions among some in the Republican Party about the alleged politicization of the incident.
House Republicans are investigating Colangelo and his past work in prosecuting President Trump.
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Former President Donald Trump exits Trump Tower on Monday, April 15, 2024, in New York City. Jury selection begins this morning in the so-called hush money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo speaks in a Department of Justice video. (Fox News Digital/Department of Justice)
DNC Services Corp/Democratic National Committee made two payments to prosecutor Matthew Colangelo on January 31, 2018, according to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by Fox News Digital. Colangelo was paid two payments of $6,000 for a total of $12,000.
The “Description” of the payment purpose states “Political Consulting.”
Neither the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office nor the DNC immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
At the time, Mr. Colangelo took over the role from Mr. Bragg and was working in the office of then-New York State Attorney General Eric Scheiderman as deputy attorney general for social justice. Mr. Bragg was appointed Deputy Attorney General at the time.
Former President Donald Trump, along with his attorney Tod Blanche, appear during Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan state court in 2016 for falsifying business records to hide money paid to hush porn star Stormy Daniels.・Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo makes his opening statement during the hearing before Judge Marchan. This courtroom sketch on April 22, 2024 in New York City, USA. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
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Schneiderman resigned in May 2018 following sexual assault allegations. He was succeeded by Barbara Underwood as New York Attorney General.
In June 2018, just months after Colangelo received the payment from the DNC, Underwood filed a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation with Colangelo as deputy attorney general. The lawsuit alleged that Trump used the foundation’s charitable assets to pay off legal obligations. The Trump Foundation ultimately agreed to disband in December 2018.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks at a press conference on Thursday, March 7, 2024 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Colangelo remained in the New York attorney general’s office after Underwood’s tenure, continuing to work on the Trump case and investigation under the direction of current prosecutor Letitia James, who took over in 2018.
However, on January 20, 2021, the first day of the Biden administration, Colangelo began working as the acting deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice.
Colangelo later became Biden’s top deputy attorney general in the Justice Department. Colangelo helped oversee multiple divisions, including the Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Antitrust, and Tax divisions.
Colangelo joined Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office in December 2022.
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DNC Chairman Tom Perez spoke at a Democratic Party rally in New Hampshire ahead of the 2020 New Hampshire presidential primary.
Prior to working in New York and the Biden Justice Department, Colangelo worked in the Obama administration in various roles. Colangelo worked in the Justice Department’s civil rights division, served as chief of staff to then-Labor Secretary Tom Perez, and then served as Democratic National Committee chairman in 2017.
Mr. Perez was the DNC chairman at the time Mr. Colangelo was paid for “political consulting.”
Mr. Colangelo also worked as deputy chief of staff to then-President Obama and deputy director of the White House Economic Council.
President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama. (Getty Images)
The House Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), has reviewed Mr. Colangelo’s record regarding his employment at the Justice Department, which conducts “oversight of politically motivated prosecutions of state and local officials.”・We request that it be submitted to Attorney General Garland.
Mr. Bragg indicted Mr. Trump on 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records.
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The charge of falsifying business records is usually a misdemeanor, but Bragg, Colangelo and New York prosecutors must convince jurors that Trump is suspected of falsifying those records in furtherance of “another crime.” It won’t happen.
Former President Donald Trump attends the first day of his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 15, 2024 in New York City. (Angela Weiss/AFP via AP Pool)
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Prosecutors have suggested other crimes aimed at preventing or facilitating the election violated New York state law. On its face, as an isolated crime, the charge is usually also a misdemeanor.
Bragg said the combination of allegations of falsifying business records and interfering with or facilitating an election constitutes a felony.
