Manhattan DA's office hires attorney with extensive experience investigating Trump, suing his administration
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
- The Manhattan DA's office has hired Matthew Colangelo as it heats up investigations into Trump.
- Colangelo oversaw lawsuits against the Trump administration while he worked at the NY AG's office.
- He also spearheaded the lawsuit that led to the dissolution of the Trump Foundation.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office has beefed up its office with a high-profile attorney experienced in investigating and suing former President Donald Trump.
Matthew Colangelo previously held a senior position in the New York attorney general's office as chief counsel for federal initiatives, overseeing numerous lawsuits against the Trump administration over immigration, environmental rules, LGBTQ+ issues, and predatory lending.
Colangelo also spearheaded the lawsuit that led to the dissolution of the Trump Foundation, as well as an investigation that led to a mammoth ongoing civil lawsuit from the attorney general's office alleging the Trump Organization ran fraudulent books. A state judge recently appointed an independent overseer to keep an eye on the company's finances as the lawsuit proceeds.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg overlapped with Colangelo at the New York attorney general's office during the Trump years. In a statement Monday, the DA's office didn't specify whether Colangelo would work on the ongoing Trump investigation but said he would work on the office's "most sensitive and high-profile white-collar investigations," along with housing and labor cases.
"Assisting with the District Attorney's focus on financial crimes will promote confidence in the legal system by making clear that the same rules apply to everyone — no matter how powerful," Colangelo said in the statement.
In a statement provided to Insider Monday, Attorney General Merrick Garland praised Colangelo, who held a top role in the Justice Department early in the Biden administration.
"Since my first day as attorney general, I have relied on Matthew's wise counsel and excellent judgment to advance the Department of Justice's mission," Garland said. "He is a model public servant, and the Department will long benefit from his contributions to the cause of justice."
The announcement of Colangelo's hire comes on the same day that jurors began deliberating an ongoing criminal case against the Trump Organization.
In a trial, prosecutors have made the case that the company participated in a years-long scheme to avoid paying taxes. The company's former longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty to charges related to his own tax fraud. Trump isn't personally a defendant in the case.
Colangelo's hire breathes more life into the ongoing investigation into Trump's financial dealings, which suffered a setback at the beginning of the year when two of the top prosecutors on the case, Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, resigned as Bragg refused to bring charges against Trump. At the time, Bragg had taken over the office from Cyrus Vance Jr., the district attorney who initiated the investigation.
"The team that has been investigating Mr. Trump harbors no doubt about whether he committed crimes — he did," Pomerantz wrote in his resignation letter.
According to the New York Times, Bragg has taken a renewed interest into whether Trump violated state laws ahead of the 2016 election by facilitating hush-money payments to women who claimed to have affairs with him.