In 2018, the Democratic National Committee compensated Matthew Colangelo with a substantial sum for “political consulting” services. Colangelo, who currently serves as a chief prosecutor alongside Alvin Bragg in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, delivered the opening statements in the historic criminal trial of former President Trump.
He joined Bragg’s team in December 2022 following the resignations of Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, who left due to Bragg’s initial reluctance to indict Trump. Prior to joining Bragg’s office, Colangelo held a senior position in the Biden Justice Department. In April 2023, Bragg filed charges against the former president, sparking concerns among some Republicans about the potential politicization of the case.
Federal Election Commission records reviewed by Fox News Digital revealed that in January 2018, the DNC made two payments to Colangelo, each amounting to $6,000, for a total of $12,000. The purpose was labeled as “Political Consulting.” At the time, Colangelo was the deputy attorney general for social justice under then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a role he had taken over from Alvin Bragg, who was serving as the chief deputy attorney general.
In June 2018, just months after receiving the $12,000 from the DNC, Colangelo, serving as the executive deputy attorney general, assisted Attorney General Barbara Underwood in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation. The lawsuit accused Trump of misusing the foundation’s charitable assets to settle personal legal obligations. The legal pressure resulted in the dissolution of the Trump Foundation in December 2018. Last week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) initiated the investigation into the Justice Department’s coordination with Manhattan District Attorney Bragg over the “politicized prosecution” of Trump. Rep. Jordan sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting documents related to the role of Colangelo.
Chairman Jordan criticized the involvement of Colangelo and Bragg, writing, “Popularly elected prosecutors—who campaigned for office on the promise of prosecuting President Trump—engaged in an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.” He accused Colangelo of being “obsessed with investigating a person rather than prosecuting a crime” due to his history of investigations against Trump during his tenure in the New York Attorney General’s Office.
In the letter, Jordan revealed concerns regarding Colangelo’s hiring by Bragg in December 2022, noting that Colangelo was brought on specifically to “jump-start” the investigation into Trump because of his “history of taking on Donald J. Trump and his family business.” He also criticized Bragg’s reliance on Michael Cohen, a convicted felon who has previously shown animosity toward Trump and pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. Jordan said that Colangelo’s leadership in this prosecution “only adds to the perception that the Biden Justice Department is politicized and weaponized.”
Republicans have expressed their concerns that Bragg’s prosecution covered federal matters previously closed by the DOJ in 2018 and that Bragg is seeking to retry an issue that had already been declined at the federal level.
According to Fox News, Colangelo remained in the New York Attorney General’s Office following Underwood’s tenure and continued his work on Trump-related lawsuits and investigations under current Attorney General Letitia James, who assumed office in 2018. On January 20, 2021, the first day of Joe Biden’s administration, Colangelo began serving as the acting associate attorney general in the Justice Department before transitioning to the role of principal deputy associate attorney general. In this capacity, he oversaw several divisions, including Civil, Civil Rights, Antitrust, and Tax.
Colangelo joined Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office in December 2022. Before his tenure in New York and the Biden Justice Department, he held several positions within the Obama administration. He worked in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and served as chief of staff to then-Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who later became DNC chair in 2017. Colangelo was compensated for “political consulting” during Perez’s term as DNC chairman. Additionally, Colangelo served as a deputy assistant to Obama and as deputy director of the White House Economic Council.