Manhattan's District Attorney hires a new attack dog to go after Trump: Alvin Bragg brings in lawyer who worked for Obama and ex-President's nemesis Letitia James - as investigators zero in on Stormy Daniels hush money payments
Matthew Colangelo now joins Manhattan DA's office. DA Alvin Bragg said the hire shows 'the same rules apply to everyone – no matter how powerful'
By Geoff Earle
Daily Mail
December 5, 2022
Former DOJ official Matthew
Colangelo is joining Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's team with a focus on
white collar crimes. He helped lead the New York AG's Trump
investigations
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is beefing up his investigative team by hiring a top DOJ official with experience probing former President Donald Trump.
The hire, of former high level DOJ official Matthew Colangelo, comes despite two other officials resigning early this year amid suggestions that Bragg would not aggressively pursue a case against the former president.
He will help guid the 'most sensitive and high-profile white-collar investigations,' Bragg said in a statement.
Colangelo will 'promote confidence in the legal system by making clear that the same rules apply to everyone – no matter how powerful,' Bragg said in a statement, in a statement that evoked the nation's most prominent defendant in a string of legal actions.
Bragg's office has said its probe of Trump is ongoing.
In hiring Colangelo, Bragg is bringing on an official who has experience investigating Trump's sprawling business interest, amid signs his office is revisiting hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump.
If follows reports Bragg is back to pursuing the years-old Stormy Daniels case, after declining to prosecute Trump and his company. New York AG Letitia James is pursuing a $250 million civil suit against Trump's company, who she accuses of undertaking fraudulent business practices to avoid taxes.
Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in his business and denies having an affair with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, and has called probes against him part of a 'witch hunt.'
'Matthew Colangelo brings a wealth of economic justice experience combined with complex white-collar investigations, and he has the sound judgment and integrity needed to pursue justice against powerful people and institutions when they abuse their power,' Bragg told the New York Times, which reported his hiring.
A jury on Monday began deliberations in a case Bragg's office brought against Trump Organization in a criminal tax fraud trial.
Colangelo served as acting associate attorney general at DOJ, and led the New York AG's Trump probe.
He got high marks from one Obama administration official he worked for, former Labor Secretary Tom Perez.
'Matthew is the perfect person for a job of this sensitivity, because he’s unflappable, he’s legally brilliant, he has impeccable judgment and he’s humble enough to involve people who have been around the block,' he said.
Bragg assumed office early this year after longtime AG Cy Vance, Jr. had probed but not charged Trump in a long-running probe of his finances.
James, in her own civil case, accuses Trump of inflating the value of company assets by billions when obtaining lending, and accuses him of practicing the 'art of the steal.'
Colangelo and Bragg previously worked together in the AG's office.
He also helped probe the Trump Foundation.
No comments:
Post a Comment