GOP lawmaker demands answers on former Biden official joining 'cesspool' team prosecuting Trump
Rep. Gooden said DA Bragg's hiring of a former Biden DOJ official is 'yet another example of the unconstitutional approach' to Trump’s trial
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FIRST ON FOX: A House Republican lawmaker is demanding answers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the hiring of a former Biden administration attorney on the prosecution team of former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas sent a scathing letter to DOJ and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Tuesday, highlighting the hire of Michael Colangelo on the team attempting to charge the former president with 34 counts of falsifying his business records, including alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Colangelo was previously employed as a senior official at President Joe Biden's DOJ, but reportedly left his role in December 2022 to work as Senior Counsel at the DA's office a few months before the indictment of Trump.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The politicized persecution of former President Trump and the collusion between the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Manhattan District Attorney (DA) General’s Office have raised several concerns among the public," Gooden wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News Digital, demanding documents pertaining to Colangelo's hiring documents be released.
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Gooden also requested any and all communication between Bragg and Colangelo while he was still employed at DOJ "to ensure transparency and accountability are upheld in this case."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the letter, the congressman questioned whether Colangelo was asked to leave by the department, or if he accepted a position in a lower office voluntarily and if he remains in contact with DOJ officials.
Additionally, the Texas lawmaker asked if Colangelo was asked to leave, "what was he promised in return for accepting such a substantial demotion from his position at DOJ to joining a Manhattan DA prosecution team."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rep. Lance Gooden participates in the House Judiciary Committee meeting in the Rayburn Office Building on Feb. 1, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"The Department of Justice under President Biden has proven to be a cesspool of partisanship, further evident by the hyper-politicized courts that have taken up President Trump’s criminal trials," Gooden's letter read. "DA Bragg’s decision to hire Mr. Colangelo, a former DOJ official with close ties to the White House and Attorney General Garland, is yet another example of the unconstitutional approach to President Trump’s trial."
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Gooden asked to receive a response to his questions by May 24, 2024.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump is currently on trial for making alleged hush money payments while he was campaigning for president in 2016. The former president has pleaded "not guilty" to the charges, and will spend the next several weeks of his 2024 presidential campaign in the courtroom.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ and Bragg's office.