Bragg prosecutor leading Stormy Daniels questioning in Trump trial donated to Joe Biden, Democrats

FIRST ON FOX: The prosecutor from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office leading questioning of adult film actress Stormy Daniels in former President Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial donated to President Biden’s campaign in 2020 and 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 as part of former President Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial. 

Trump defense attorneys told Judge Juan Merchan Tuesday afternoon they would motion for a mistrial amid Daniels’ “prejudicial” testimony. Hoffinger said the claim was without basis, and Merchan ultimately denied the defense’s request. 

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Hoffinger’s donations to Biden came during the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, Federal Election Commission records show. 

Stormy Daniels is questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger during former U.S. President Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S. May 7, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.  (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg)

Hoffinger donated $500 to Biden’s presidential campaign in 2020 — a donation of $250 in February 2020 and another donation of $250 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.

The revelations come as Republicans investigate alleged politicization of the case against Trump. 

“Joe Biden’s witch hunt against President Donald Trump happening in New York City is blatant election interference,” House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “The lead Democrat prosecutor is a donor to Joe Biden just like 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 ballot box and have resorted to a desperate lawfare campaign in hopes of saving Joe Biden.” 

“The American people can see through this, and that is why President Trump will win come November,” Stefanik said. 

Fox News Digital first reported that another top prosecutor on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team was paid by the Democratic National Committee for his “political consulting” work.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a news conference on 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 unwillingness to indict the former president. Colangelo left a senior role at the Biden Justice Department to join Bragg’s team. Bragg afterward brought charges against the former president in April 2023, raising questions among some in the GOP about alleged politicization of the case. 

House Republicans are investigating Colangelo and his past work as he prosecutes Trump. 

Stormy Daniels is questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger before Justice Juan Merchan during former U.S. President Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S. 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 Jan. 31, 2018. Colangelo was given two payments of $6,000, for a total of $12,000. 

The “description” for the purpose of payment is labeled “Political Consulting.” 

Neither the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office nor the DNC responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment about Colangelo’s work. 

At the time, Colangelo was serving in then-New York Attorney General Eric Scheiderman’s office as the deputy attorney general for social justice, assuming the role from Bragg. Bragg, at the time, was appointed as chief deputy attorney general. 

Schneiderman resigned in May 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault. Barbara Underwood replaced him as New York attorney general. 

Just months after Colangelo received the payments from the DNC, in June 2018, Underwood, with Colangelo as executive deputy attorney general, filed a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation. The lawsuit claimed that Trump used the foundation’s charitable assets to pay off his legal obligations. The Trump Foundation ultimately agreed to dissolve in December 2018.  

Todd Blanche, lawyer of former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks from a podium at a hearing next to prosecutor Matthew Colangelo at the Manhattan Federal Court over Trump’s push to move his criminal case to federal court, in New York City, U.S. 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. 

Prior to his work in New York and in the Biden Justice Department, Colangelo worked in the Obama administration, serving in a number of different roles. Colangelo worked in the DOJ’s civil rights division and served as the chief of staff to then-Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who later served as chair of the DNC in 2017. Perez was DNC chairman at the time Colangelo was paid for “political consulting.” 

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Colangelo also worked as a deputy assistant to then-President Obama and as the deputy director of the White House Economic Council. 

Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts. 

A charge of falsifying business records typically is a misdemeanor, but Bragg, Colangelo and New York prosecutors must convince the jury that Trump allegedly falsified those records in the furtherance of “another crime.” 

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Prosecutors suggest that the other crime was in violation of a New York State law — conspiracy to prevent or promote election. On its face, as a stand-alone offense, that charge is also typically a misdemeanor. 

Coupling the alleged falsification of business records with alleged prevention or promotion of election becomes a felony crime, according to Bragg.