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America First Legal has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Joe Biden’s campaign over supposed “illegal coordination” efforts targeted toward President Trump.
The legal group, which previously filed other suits against the Biden administration over additional schemes to take down Donald Trump, accused both the incumbent and Bragg of “direct and serious violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act” while reportedly doing so in league with each other and the Justice Department.
AFL then insinuated that Biden “looked to lawfare to destroy his chief political opponent,” citing comments from when he claimed to be using “legitimate efforts” to ensure President Trump “does not become the next President again.”
“We just have to demonstrate that [President Trump] will not take power,” Biden told reporters during a press conference just five days before the 45th president launched his campaign in Nov. 2022.
Biden added, “If he does run, I’m making sure he, under legitimate efforts of our Constitution, does not become the next President again.”
Furthermore, the group accused Bragg and Biden of having “resurrected” the so-called “hush money” investigation into President Trump, who was found “guilty” by a Manhattan jury on 34 felony counts related to his reported falsification of business records, as reported by RSBN.
Bragg previously claimed that Trump attempted to “conceal crimes” in order to “cover up” payments he allegedly made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to say silent regarding an unproven extramarital affair that could have damaged his 2016 presidential bid.
Initially, the case started to receive traction under Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., in 2018. Shortly thereafter, the investigation quickly became know as the “zombie case” by its prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who claimed it was unlikely to even stand in a court, Politico reported.
Thus, the infamous “zombie case” went “back into the grave,” Pomerantz wrote in his book, “People v. Donald Trump: An Inside Account.”
Interestingly, Bragg claimed Pomerantz’s book at the time could “jeopardize” the investigation of Trump, and threatened the former attorney’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, that the author needed “prior written permission from the DA’s Office before discussing the “‘existence, nature, or content'” of any materials related to the case.
Nevertheless, Bragg reopened the case in Nov. 21 2022—six days after Trump announced his 2024 bid—and then upped the charges from a misdemeanor to a felony, which could carry more severe punishments.
As USA Today reported, New York law states that the statute of limitations for a misdemeanor is two years, while statutes of limitations for standard felonies are five years.
Even more damning, according to AFL, was Alvin Bragg’s hiring of former DOJ official Matthew Colangelo to “jump start” the probe of the 45th president, allegedly because of his “history of taking on Donald J. Trump and his family business.”
Colangelo left his job as “the number three” official in the Biden Justice Department back in Dec. 2022 so he could work with Bragg in his investigation of the 45th president, the group cited.
AFL further added that before he worked at the DOJ, Colangelo held a senior position at the New York Attorney General’s office, and that both entities “had competing investigations related to President Trump.”
Colangelo also reportedly contributed “several times” to Bragg’s 2020 campaign for district attorney, AFL wrote, another testament to the impartiality of their investigation.
“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,” AFL’s complaint read.
“Effectively, Bragg acted ‘in cooperation, consultation, or concert, with, or at the request of’ Biden to influence the 2024 presidential election,” the group added.
The group further lambasted Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland for refusing to overturn communications between the DOJ and Bragg’s office during a previous congressional hearing, which he would not even deny existed.
Bragg also contributed in excess of the $3,300 per-election individual contribution limit, the group reported, of which the Biden campaign knowingly accepted.
Since Biden’s campaign neglected to disclose this information as a coordinated expenditure—which must be reported as such, it therefore violates the Federal Election Campaign Act, according to the group.
“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,” AFL wrote in their complaint.
Ultimately, a culmination of Garland’s refusals during his testimony, Biden’s election comments, and Colangelo’s “jump-starting” the investigation with Bragg led to the complaint launched by AFL.
As they maintained, these factors indicate that Bragg’s prosecution would have never occurred if Trump was not running for president. AFL further added that this information proves that these efforts were merely a “coordinated expenditure” between Bragg and the Biden campaign “made to influence” the 2024 election.
