Justice Department officials fired off a scathing letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Tuesday, debunking a key conspiracy theory House Republicans have been pushing about former President Donald Trump's criminal conviction in New York for the Stormy Daniels hush money scheme to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.
Specifically, Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriate addressed allegations that President Joe Biden or his top law enforcement officials were somehow coordinating the charges against Trump — a theory Trump himself has constantly been alleging as well.
"The Department has conducted a comprehensive search for email communications since January 20, 2021, through the date of the verdict, between any officials in Department leadership, including all political appointees in those offices, and the District Attorney’s office regarding any investigation or prosecution of the former President," wrote Uriate. "We found none. This is unsurprising. The District Attorney’s office is a separate entity from the Department. The Department does not supervise the work of the District Attorney’s office, does not approve its charging decisions, and does not try its cases. The Department has no control over the District Attorney, just as the District Attorney has no control over the Department. The Committee knows this.
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In particular, Uriate singled out claims about one member of Bragg's prosecution team, Matthew Colengelo, who was a particular focus of Trump and Jordan because he has investigated Trump both while working at the DOJ and later when he joined Bragg's team. This was used to insinuate he was a sort of backchannel between these two agencies — but there is no evidence of this.
"The Department did not identify any instances of Mr. Colangelo having email communications with the District Attorney’s office during his time at the Department," wrote Uriate. "This is also unsurprising. As a member of the Associate Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Colangelo’s job was to oversee the civil litigation components that report to the Associate’s Office, including the Civil Division, Antitrust Division, Civil Rights Division, and the Environment and Natural Resources Division. Mr. Colangelo departed the Department on December 2, 2022. Department leadership did not dispatch Mr. Colangelo to the District Attorney’s office, and Department leadership was unaware of his work on the investigation and prosecution involving the former President until it was reported in the news."
Ultimately, Uriate concluded, the claim that the DOJ controlled the jury verdict against Trump "is not only false, it is irresponsible" — and the latest investigation conducted at Jordan's demand "should put it to rest."
