WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a formal administrative complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against New York County District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. and Joe Biden’s principal campaign committee, Biden for President, for violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act.
In December 2022, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg reportedly hired Matthew B. Colangelo to “jump-start” his office’s investigation of President Trump due to Mr. Colangelo’s “history of taking on Donald J. Trump and his family business.” Colangelo left his post as the number three in the DOJ to join the district attorney’s office – a move that reeks of partisanship.
Colangelo previously held senior positions in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the New York Attorney General’s Office, both of which had competing investigations related to President Trump. Notably, before joining the Biden DOJ, Colangelo contributed several times to Bragg’s District Attorney campaign.
The available information indicates that Bragg’s hush money prosecution was “coordinated” with President Biden, i.e., it was made “in cooperation, consultation or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of” Biden.
Effectively, Bragg acted “in cooperation, consultation, or concert, with, or at the request of” Biden to influence the 2024 presidential election.
Without denying the existence of communications between the Biden DOJ and Bragg’s District Attorney’s Office, Attorney General Merrick Garland refused during a congressional hearing to commit to turning over communications between the DOJ and Bragg’s Office.
The overall record in these matters — including Colangelo’s “jump-starting” of the case, Garland’s refusal to disclose communications between his Department and Bragg’s office, and the Biden campaign’s press event and statement immediately after the trial and conviction — indicates that Bragg’s hush money prosecution was made to harm President Trump’s 2024 candidacy and would not have been made absent President Trump’s status as a presidential candidate.
Because the available information supports a conclusion that Bragg’s prosecution of President Trump was coordinated with President Biden and made to influence the 2024 presidential election, it is a “coordinated expenditure” under the Act resulting in an in-kind contribution by Bragg to Biden and the Biden Campaign.
Under the Federal Election Campaign Act and FEC regulations, Bragg contributed in excess of the $3,300 per-election individual contribution limit, which the Biden Campaign knowingly accepted.
The outlined information indicates that the Biden Campaign violated its disclosure obligations under the Federal Election Campaign Act when they failed to publicly disclose required contribution information in connection with the Bragg prosecution as a “coordinated expenditure.” A coordinated expenditure must be reported as both a contribution received by and an expenditure made by the authorized committees of the candidate with whom the expenditure was coordinated.
Because the Bragg prosecution was a coordinated expenditure, the Biden Campaign had to report it as a receipt from Bragg, including the date, amount, and purpose of the in-kind contribution.
Statement from America First Legal Vice President Dan Epstein:
“Questions from the media and Congress, coupled with the demonstrable evidence of influence from the DOJ, the Manhattan DA’s office, and Bragg’s financial supporters who later influenced the Biden Administration, creates a substantially likely risk of coordination between President Biden and Bragg. With the lawfare before the FEC against candidate and former President Donald Trump, it is important that the FEC take a hard look at the relationship between President Biden, his administration, and his political committees and the New York County DA’s Office’s political prosecution of the former President during a campaign year,” said Dan Epstein.
Read the complaint here.
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