Republican lawmaker warns about former Biden attorney running DOJ prosecution of Trump

By bellecarter // 2024-04-30

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Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) demands that President Joe Biden's Department of Justice (DOJ) explain why a former Biden administration attorney is now part of the team prosecuting former President Donald Trump. In a critical letter Gooden sent to the DOJ and the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, he highlighted the hiring of Michael Colangelo on the team that is 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. The Texas Republican contends that Colangelo could be a go-between, facilitating the DOJ's oversight and control of Bragg's prosecution of Trump. (Related: Alvin Bragg has his Trump trial, all he needs now is a crime.) "The politicized persecution of former President Trump and the collusion between the Biden Administration's DOJ and the Manhattan District Attorney (DA) General's Office have raised several concerns among the public," Gooden wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Bragg earlier in the week. "The fact that Colangelo stepped down from a senior DOJ role to join a prosecution team in a city DA office raises some pressing concerns." To make sure everything is transparent and accountability is upheld in this case, he requested immediate access to all records and communication about the DOJ and Bragg's office's process of hiring Colangelo. Colangelo was previously employed as a senior official at the 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. This position at DOJ is viewed as a stepping stone to lucrative private sector jobs such as general counsel with a Fortune 500 company. However, as Gooden noted in his letter to Garland and Bragg, Colangelo effectively took a demotion in leaving the DOJ and joining Bragg's team. In this connection, Gooden asked whether Colangelo was asked to leave by the department, or if he accepted a position in a lower office voluntarily. He also asked for details regarding continued communication between Colangelo and his former DOJ colleagues. Moreover, he asked: "What was he promised in return for accepting such a substantial demotion from his position at DOJ to joining a Manhattan DA prosecution team." "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." The congressman asked to receive clarifications to all his inquiries by May 24.

Trump: Democrats concoct legal troubles as 2024 presidential election nears

The past week has been a dizzying whirlwind for the former president. Trump has lashed out about the cases he's facing, complaining about being stuck in court. He also claimed that his legal troubles were concocted by Democrats who want to hurt his chances in the 2024 presidential election. These legal obstacles have already hurt his campaign. He is scheduled to make two campaign stops in the Midwest, but his court dates are making it difficult for him to keep up the momentum of his third presidential run. Furthermore, he is set to go back to court for a hearing regarding his alleged violations of a gag order. He is also set to return to Florida where U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon is set to make a big decision regarding his classified documents case in the state. Meanwhile, former top National Enquirer executive and the government's first witness David Pecker recently testified that "he killed potentially damaging stories about Trump around the 2016 election, then published articles pummeling Trump's political rivals." Trump's former executive assistant at the Trump Organization, Rhona Graff, also testified along with a banker for Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen. Graff said she maintained Trump's contact list and that he had contact information for Stormy Daniels. As for the Washington D.C. Federal case on the 2020 election, the Supreme Court heard arguments to determine whether presidential immunity extends to Trump's alleged actions laid out in this election interference indictment. Atty. D. John Sauer, one of Trump's attorneys, told the justices that presidents have sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution and the charges against Trump for actions around Jan. 6, 2021, should be dismissed. However, prosecutors argued that the former president's alleged deception to overturn the 2020 election results extended far beyond possible immunity protections for presidents. A decision is expected by the end of the court term, which is in late June or early July. Florida's federal classified documents case's trial date is still "to be determined." The Georgia state case on the 2020 election also has no trial date yet. Head over to Trump.news for more stories related to the ongoing legal battle the former president is fighting. Watch the video below where Eric Trump warns of charges if SCOTUS rules against father Donald's immunity claim. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

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Trump: Democrats concoct legal troubles as 2024 presidential election nears

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