Friday, November 18, 2022, is the day the Biden government began its lawfare campaign against former President Donald J. Trump—with three watershed events occurring that appear too connected to be coincidence. On that seemingly unremarkable Friday in November, Matthew Colangelo resigned from his position at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to join the Manhattan District Attorney’s office; Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as a special counsel; and Nathan Wade with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office was in the midst of an eight-hour meeting with the Biden White House counsel in Washington, D.C.
Just nine days prior, on November 9, Joe Biden signaled he would use the federal government in a lawfare campaign against former President Trump should he seek to retake the White House in the 2024 election. “We just have to demonstrate that he will not take power,” Biden said at a press conference when asked about the prospects of another Trump presidency. He continued: “If he does run, by making sure he, under legitimate efforts of our Constitution, does not become the next president again.”
There are no coincidences in politics. Biden’s remarks and the fury of activity at the DOJ and White House just nine days later suggest that Democratic partisans had received their orders to spin up the legal attacks on Trump, which would unfold throughout 2023.
COLANGELO MOVES TO MANHATTAN.
Matthew Colangelo‘s departure from the DOJ on November 18, 2022, raises red flags as he occupied one of the top roles in the department as Acting Associate Attorney General. Yet, Colangelo abruptly resigned his post—but instead of taking a position with a high-profile white shoe law firm, the federal attorney took a pay cut and a far less prestigious position as an assistant prosecutor with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. While the latter had hesitated to pursue falsifying business records charges against former President Trump over alleged hush money payments, after Colangelo joined his office, Bragg reversed course and began an aggressive investigation.
GARLAND TAPS SMITH.
Smith’s appointment as special counsel meant Garland was taking the January 6 riot and classified document investigations outside the normal DOJ channels. While special counsels are usually elevated from among the ranks of Senate-confirmed federal prosecutors, Smith had been previously in Europe investigating war crimes in Kosovo at The Hague. The choice of Smith was likely due to his reputation as an aggressive and partisan prosecutor.
WADE AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
On the same day as Smith’s appointment, just a few blocks away, Fulton County, Georgia, prosecutor Nathan Wade met with attorneys in the White House counsel’s office. Wade had been hired by his romantic partner—Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis—to assist with her RICO investigation and subsequent prosecution of former President Trump. A month after Wade’s White House meeting, on December 15, a special purpose grand jury in Fulton County handed down a sealed recommendation for indictments against former President Trump and others for allegedly interfering in the 2020 presidential election.