House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has fired off a letter to President Joe Biden’s Justice Department over a matter concerning involvement in former President Donald Trump’s ‘hush money’ trial in Manhattan.
In the letter, the Ohio Republican accused Biden’s DOJ of coordinating with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to “politicize” the prosecution of the former president. In a recent letter to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, Jordan demanded documents and information regarding Matthew Colangelo, a former senior Justice Department official who is now serving as a lead prosecutor for Bragg in the Trump hush money case.
“Mr. Colangelo’s recent employment history demonstrates his obsession with investigating a person rather than prosecuting a crime,” wrote Jordan. “At the New York Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Colangelo ran investigations into President Trump, leading ‘a wave of state litigation against Trump administration policies.’” The letter detailed Colangelo’s employment history with the Justice Department prior to his tenure in Bragg’s New York office, the Washington Times noted.
According to Mr. Jordan, the prosecutor started serving as the acting associate attorney general — the No. 3 official in the department — on Jan. 20, 2021. From there he served as the principal deputy associate attorney general after the confirmation of Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, but by December 2022, Mr. Bragg hired Mr. Colangelo to “fill the void” left by the departure of government prosecutors Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne.
Jordan noted that the prosecutor began his tenure as the acting associate attorney general, the No. 3 official in the department, on Jan. 20, 2021. Subsequently, he served as the principal deputy associate attorney general following the confirmation of Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. However, by December 2022, Bragg enlisted Colangelo to “fill the void” left by the departure of government prosecutors Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, the Times reported.
Colangelo previously served as chief counsel for federal initiatives at the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James. The office spearheaded a case against Trump that claimed he overvalued his assets to receive better loan agreements. During his tenure in James’ office, Colangelo participated in the investigation of the Trump Organization in 2018, before working as a Justice Department attorney in Washington and returning to New York to work under Bragg.
“Bragg hired Mr. Colangelo to ‘jump-start’ his office’s investigation of President Trump, reportedly due to Mr. Colangelo’s ‘history of taking on Donald J. Trump and his family business,’” Jordan wrote.