Colangelo Leads Partisan Push Against Ex-President in Falsifying Records Trial

Legal analyst Zack Smith has raised eyebrows over Matthew Colangelo’s sudden shift from a prominent role in the Justice Department to joining Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, where he now leads prosecution against former President Donald Trump for allegedly falsifying business records. This move comes after spending several years investigating and charging individuals close to Trump during his time working for different levels of government but always pursuing criminal charges regarding the same subject matter: the ex-president himself. Colangelo’s background includes clerking with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, serving as acting associate attorney general in Biden’s DOJ and leading a case against Trump’s former charity. Critics have pointed out that his previous employment at the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice is concerning due to its reputation for hiring from liberal advocacy organizations like ACLU or NAACP with political ideologies, which could potentially affect their impartiality when acting as government lawyers meant to represent all publics. Regardless of whether Colangelo was hired by Bragg’s office specifically to prosecute Trump remains unclear; however, Smith believes that no objective lawyer would have taken on the case without partisan motives. The trial against Trump for “falsifying New York business records” could potentially reveal evidence concerning his involvement in hush-money payments during his presidential run, as prosecutors argue it is linked to a criminal conspiracy and cover-up intended to influence election outcomes through “catch-and-kill schemes”. This charge falls under misdemeanor violations of New York’s business records law; however, the DA’s office aims to prove that Trump also committed felony crimes.