House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is threatening to subpoena New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) in his quest to gain information about a top prosecutor on the Manhattan hush money trial of former President Trump.
In a letter to James last month, Jordan demanded information about Matthew Colangelo, a former employee of hers who, in his current role with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, gave the opening statements in Trump’s New York trial.
Jordan has sent letters to all of Colangelo’s recent employers, a group that includes the Justice Department along with James’s office and that of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).
In both New York jobs, Colangelo worked on prosecutorial teams that investigated Trump’s business or its affiliated charity.
“Mr. Colangelo’s recent employment history demonstrates his obsession with investigating a person rather than prosecuting a crime,” Jordan wrote in May.
Tuesday’s letter asks for the same set of documents about Colangelo’s employment, adding, however, that “the Committee is prepared to resort to compulsory process to obtain compliance with our requests” if James does not meet a July 2 deadline.
James’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Colangelo is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on July 12 alongside Bragg.
Trump is set to be sentenced the day prior after being found guilty on all 34 counts brought by prosecutors in relation to falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to a porn actor ahead of the 2016 election.
It will be the first time Congress has heard from any of the officials responsible for prosecuting Trump.
The request to James asks for the bulk of documents during Colangelo’s time in her office, including all communications he had with anyone from the Trump Organization or any associated entities.
While working at the New York attorney general’s office, Colangelo was part of a team that sued Trump’s charitable organization in 2018, proving it was improperly using funds, which led to its dismantling.
And during the tail end of the Trump administration, he was involved in the office’s probe into the Trump Organization itself. That probe would later serve as the basis for James’s fraud suit, which this year resulted in a $450 million penalty for Trump.
Colangelo left James’s office for a high-ranking posting at the Justice Department, but he returned to New York two years later to join Bragg’s team.