Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo speaks in DOJ video. (Department of Justice/YouTube)
Colangelo has a lengthy resume in government, working in a variety of legal roles that date to the Obama administration, Fox News Digital previously reported. He most recently served nearly two years in Biden's DOJ, including as acting associate attorney general and overseeing the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions.
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a news conference. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File)
That same year, Colangelo worked as lead prosecutor in a case involving the Trump administration’s push to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census. The Justice Department ultimately decided to print the 2020 Census without the citizenship question due to lengthy court battles that included having the Supreme Court weigh in that the question could not be added for the time being.
Experts who previously spoke to Fox News Digital described Colangelo's career move from a top DOJ position to a district attorney's office as "very odd."
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"It's very odd. It’s usually the other way around…. And frankly, that sounds to me like somebody who thought, 'Ah, here's an opportunity to go and get Donald Trump,'" Hans von Spakovsky, an attorney and former member of the Federal Election Commission, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview last month, ahead of the trial kicking off in earnest.
Trump is no fan of Colangelo’s, according to public remarks. He has slammed the attorney as a "radical left [prosecutor] who was put into the state working for Letitia James and was then put into the District Attorney’s office to run the trial against Trump." The comment came before the presiding judge in NY v. Trump, Juan Merchan, imposed a gag order that prevents Trump from speaking publicly about witnesses or the prosecution team.
Chairman Jim Jordan listens as Attorney General Merrick Garland appears before the House Judiciary Committee, Sept. 20, 2023, on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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The NY v. Trump case focuses on the prosecution team working to prove Trump falsified business records 34 times to conceal a $130,000 payment to former pornography star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to conceal her claims of an affair with Trump.
Former President Trump leaves Trump Tower to attend his trial in New York, on April 22, 2024. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case and has maintained his innocence.
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Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who is considered the prosecution team's star witness, has delivered ongoing testimony this week, including describing that he used his personal funds to pay Daniels in 2016 through a home equity line of credit. Cohen testified he did this because Trump told him to "handle it" as the story could be damaging to the campaign.
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Cohen said he was "reimbursed $420,000" for the payment, a sum he said was "grossed up" to prevent loss of funds to taxes, and argued that Trump was aware of the details of the payments. The checks themselves were described as a "retainer," which Cohen said was a false description.
James' office, as well as the Manhattan DA's office, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment Thursday morning.
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