FIRST ON FOX: Manhattan District Attorney's Office prosecutor Alvin Bragg led the questioning of adult film actress Stormy Daniels in former President Trump's unprecedented criminal trial given to the president's campaign Biden in 2020 and to a number of other Democratic politicians and organizations over the years, Fox News Digital has learned.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger questioned Daniels Tuesday as she testified in former President Trump's unprecedented criminal trial.
Trump's defense attorneys told Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday afternoon that they would seek a mistrial amid Daniels' “damaging” testimony. Hoffinger said the claim was baseless, and Merchan ultimately denied the defense's request.
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Hoffinger's donations to Biden occurred during the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Stormy Daniels is questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger during the criminal trial of former US President Donald Trump, accused of falsifying business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, before the Manhattan State Court in New York, United States on May 7, 2024. in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
Hoffinger donated $500 to Biden's 2020 presidential campaign – a $250 donation in February 2020 and another $250 donation in March 2020.
Hoffinger also donated more than $900 to ActBlue during the 2020 cycle. ActBlue is an online fundraising platform for Democratic candidates, progressive organizations and nonprofits.
Hoffinger also donated to a number of other Democratic congressional campaigns in 2020 and 2018. Hoffinger was hired by Bragg's office in 2022, after the political contributions were made.
These revelations come as Republicans investigate alleged politicization of the case against Trump.
“Joe Biden's witch hunt against President Donald Trump taking place in New York is blatant election interference,” House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “Top Democratic prosecutor is a Joe Biden donor, as is the judge.”
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Merchan donated $15 to Biden's campaign in July 2020. Merchan also made small donations to other Democratic groups in 2020.
Stefanik told Fox News Digital that “Democrats know they cannot defeat President Trump at the polls and have resorted to a desperate legal campaign in hopes of saving Joe Biden.”
“The American people can see clearly, and that’s why President Trump will win in November,” Stefanik said.
Fox News Digital first reported that another high-ranking prosecutor on Manhattan District Attorney's team, Alvin Bragg, was paid by the Democratic National Committee for his “political consulting” work.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a news conference Thursday, March 7, 2024 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo joined Bragg's office after the resignations of Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne — prosecutors who were investigating Trump and resigned in protest of Bragg's initial reluctance to charge the former president. Colangelo left a senior position in Biden's Justice Department to join Bragg's team. Bragg then filed a lawsuit against the former president in April 2023, raising questions among some in the Republican Party about the alleged politicization of the case.
House Republicans are investigating Colangelo and his past work as he pursues Trump.
Stormy Daniels is questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger before Judge Juan Merchan during the criminal trial of former US President Donald Trump, accused of falsifying business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan State Court in New York, United States. May 7, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
According to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by Fox News Digital, DNC Services Corp/Democratic National Committee paid Colangelo twice on January 31, 2018. Colangelo received two payments of $6,000, for a total of $12,000.
The “description” for payment purposes is titled “Policy Advice”.
Neither the Manhattan District Attorney's Office nor the DNC responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment on Colangelo's work.
At the time, Colangelo was serving in New York Attorney General Eric Scheiderman's office as assistant attorney general for social justice, assuming Bragg's role. Bragg, at the time, had been named chief deputy attorney general.
Schneiderman resigned in May 2018 following sexual assault allegations. Barbara Underwood replaced him as attorney general of New York.
Just months after Colangelo received the DNC payments, in June 2018, Underwood, with Colangelo as deputy attorney general, filed a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation. The lawsuit claimed that Trump used the foundation's charitable assets to carry out his legal obligations. The Trump Foundation finally agreed to dissolve in December 2018.
Todd Blanche, lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks from a podium during a hearing next to prosecutor Matthew Colangelo in Manhattan Federal Court about Trump's efforts to move his criminal case to trial federal, in New York, United States, June 27, 2023. in a courtroom sketch. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
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Colangelo joined Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office in December 2022.
Before working in New York and the Biden Justice Department, Colangelo worked in the Obama administration, serving in several different positions. Colangelo worked in the DOJ's civil rights division and served as chief of staff to then-Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who later served as DNC chairman in 2017. Perez was DNC chairman at the time Colangelo was paid for “political advice”.
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Colangelo also worked as a deputy aide to then-President Obama and as deputy director of the White House Economic Council.
Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A charge of falsifying business records is usually a misdemeanor, but prosecutors in Bragg, Colangelo and New York must convince the jury that Trump allegedly falsified those records as part of “another crime.”
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Prosecutors suggest the other crime was a violation of a New York state law: conspiracy to prevent or promote elections. On its face, as a standalone offense, this charge is also generally a misdemeanor.
According to Bragg, combining the alleged falsification of business records with the alleged prevention or promotion of elections becomes a crime.