In the midst of intense scrutiny surrounding the prosecution of President Donald Trump, Attorney General Merrick Garland f denies any involvement in the transfer of a former DOJ prosecutor to the New York team handling the case.
Attorney General Merrick Garland stated he was not involved in the transfer of a former DOJ prosecutor to the New York team that prosecuted former President Donald Trump. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) questioned Garland directly about Matthew Colangelo, who was part of the team that prosecuted Trump on 34 felony counts related to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.
“You had no problem dispatching Matthew Colangelo,” Gaetz charged. Garland responded, “That is false.” Gaetz remarked on the improbability of Colangelo moving between the two agencies by coincidence.
“He made this remarkable downstream career journey from the DOJ in Washington, D.C., and then pops up in [Manhattan District Attorney] Alvin Bragg’s office to get Trump,” Gaetz said. Garland replied, “I assume he applied for a job there.”
Scrutiny of Colangelo increased following Trump’s conviction in New York City last week. Colangelo delivered the opening statement at the trial, telling jurors Trump “orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election, then he covered up that criminal conspiracy by lying in his New York business records over and over and over again.”
In March, before Judge Juan Merchan imposed a gag order preventing Trump from discussing prosecutors, Trump criticized Colangelo in press remarks. “Remember this: Colangelo was a DOJ guy,” Trump said. “He’s a Biden DOJ guy. Why is he in the Manhattan DA’s office trying the case? That in itself is a conflict.”
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg selected Colangelo from the DOJ in December 2022 to assist with white-collar prosecutions. Although Colangelo had limited experience in this field, he possessed extensive knowledge about Trump. Garland firmly denied any involvement in Colangelo’s move, saying, “I had nothing to do” with it.
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