INVESTIGATIVE: Alvin Bragg and His Team: A Background Check

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks in New York City on April 4, 2023. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

On April 4, Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin L. Bragg Jr. filed a 16-page indictment of 34 felony charges and a 13-page statement of facts against former President Donald Trump for allegedly falsifying New York business records to conceal damaging information regarding an alleged affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels before and after the 2016 election.

On April 6, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) issued a subpoena to former Special Assistant DA Mark Pomerantz, who played a significant role in Bragg’s criminal investigation of Trump. Pomerantz and Carey Dunne resigned in February 2022 after Bragg backtracked on his campaign promise to seek criminal charges against the former president because of his doubts that there was enough evidence to make the case.

On April 11, Bragg filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block a House Judiciary Committee subpoena issued by Jordan. That same day, U.S. District Judge Mary Vyskocil declined Bragg’s effort.

On April 19, Vyskocil ruled that the deposition could go forward—a decision that was appealed by both Bragg and Pomerantz—before a federal appeals court issued a stay that will delay the testimony, which had been scheduled for April 20.

Bragg is the first prosecutor in U.S. history to bring a criminal case against a current or former U.S. president. But who is he?

Alvin Bragg

According to his official biography, Bragg is a “son of Harlem.” After graduating from Harvard Law School, he clerked for the Hon. Robert P. Patterson Jr. in the Southern District of New York. Bragg also served as an assistant attorney general at the New York State Attorney General’s Office, overseeing the AG’s litigation against the Trump Foundation.

Elected as Manhattan’s 37th DA in November 2021, he’s the first black prosecutor to serve in the position.

Bragg also is a former member of the board of directors of the New York Urban League and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He was also a Sunday school teacher.

During his campaign, Bragg boasted that he had sued Trump at least 100 times and vowed to pursue a legal case against Trump as a central part of his campaign.

According to Federal Elections Commission (FEC) records, Bragg’s political contributions date back to 2008, when he made a $127.22 donation to Obama for America. From June 2016 to June 2020, Bragg contributed $400 to ActBlue and $250 to Democratic congressional candidate Lucy McBath. From Oct. 8, 2020, to Oct. 29, 2020, Bragg contributed $90—in increments between $1 and $19—to a conservative PAC, WIN Red. On Sept. 14, 2021, Bragg made a $500 contribution to Raphael Warnock’s Senate campaign.

Juan Merchan

Juan Manuel Merchan—a jurist with more than 16 years of experience on the bench—is the New York County Supreme Court justice who will preside over the case against Trump.

After graduating from Hofstra University School of Law in 1994, Merchan spent many years in the New York County DA’s Office. In 1999, he became deputy assistant attorney general in Nassau County. He went on to serve in the same position in Suffolk County. In 2006, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Merchan as a Bronx County family court judge. Merchan currently presides over criminal cases as a justice at the New York County Supreme Court, where he has served since 2009.

This won’t be the first time Merchan has overseen a case involving Trump.

In 2022, Merchan presided over the tax fraud trial that led to the conviction of the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg. Merchan also is overseeing a criminal case against Steve Bannon, the former Trump aide accused of fraud and money laundering through an organization called We Build The Wall, which promised to help build a wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Bannon, who was pardoned by Trump before he left office, has pleaded not guilty.

Although rules regarding the campaign activities of judges and judicial candidates are outlined on the American Bar Association website, Merchan has a history of making contributions “to a political organization or a candidate for public office,” all of which are liberal.

According to the FEC, Merchan made three donations totaling $35 through ActBlue—the liberal fundraising PAC powerhouse described as “the home of small-dollar donation”—within two days in July 2020. Of the $35, $15 went to presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign on July 26, 2020. The Progressive Turnout Project received $10, as did its subsidiary, Stop Republicans. The mission of the Progressive Turnout Project is to “rally Democrats to vote.” Stop Republicans is “dedicated to resisting the Republican Party and Donald Trump’s radical right-wing legacy.”

Bragg’s Team

To assist in his prosecution of the former president, Bragg has assembled a team of seven prosecutors with extensive experience in fraud and white-collar crimes. But who are they?

Susan Hoffinger

Susan Hoffinger serves as Bragg’s executive assistant district attorney and chief of the Investigation Division. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree and graduating magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1985, Hoffinger earned her law degree from Columbia Law School in 1989. From 1992 to 2000, Hoffinger served as an assistant DA in the Asset Forfeiture Unit, the Trial Bureau, and the Frauds Bureau under Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau. She became the founding partner of the Hoffinger Firm, where she has spent the past two decades as a criminal defense attorney in both state and federal civil litigation.

Hoffinger also has a history of legal connections to Trump. Hoffinger and her legal team won the conviction of Weisselberg and the Trump Organization, the case over which Merchan presided.

FEC records show that Hoffinger has made $8,280 in political contributions to ActBlue and Democratic candidates since 2004. In 2020, Hoffinger made two contributions to Biden for President totaling $500.

Christopher Conroy

Christopher Conroy, a nearly 30-year veteran of the Manhattan DA’s office, serves as an executive assistant district attorney and senior adviser to the Investigation Division.

As a graduate of Fordham University School of Law, Conroy began his legal career in the DA’s Trial Bureau in 1996. He worked in several other divisions, including the Frauds Bureau and the Violent Criminal Enterprises Unit, where he was appointed deputy unit chief in 2006.

In 2011, Conroy moved to the DA’s Major Economic Crimes Bureau, working his way up the ranks for four years to become chief in September 2015.

During his nine-year tenure in the DA’s Major Economic Crimes Bureau, Conroy oversaw several significant cases, including investigations into Société Générale S.A., Standard Chartered Bank, and Unicredit Bank AG.

In 2014, Conroy received the U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Award for Exceptional Service for his work on the prosecution team of BNP Paribas Bank. In 2019, he received the NYC Bar Association’s Thomas E. Dewey Award, presented yearly to an outstanding assistant DA in the city DA’s offices.

According to the FEC, Conroy has made contributions to candidates and political organizations on both sides of the political aisle since 2001. Conroy donated similar amounts to ActBlue and its conservative counterpart, WinRed. He also donated similar amounts to Biden for President and Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. Although three contributions totaling $160 appear to have been refunded—dated Feb. 8, 2021, after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach—an $80 contribution made on Jan. 1, 2021, five days before the rally, was not.

Catherine McCaw

Catherine McCaw serves as the Manhattan DA’s counsel to the Investigation Division.

She graduated from Harvard Law School in 2009 and clerked for Judge Richard Holwell in the Southern District of New York and Judge Chester Straub of the 2nd Circuit.

McCaw worked in private practice for a few years before joining the DA’s office in 2015, where she worked her way up the ranks.

She has handled several significant cases, including fake heiress Anna Sorokin, aka Anna Delvey, and Mitchell Kossoff, a real estate attorney convicted of stealing more than $14 million from individuals and companies.

Peter Pope

Bragg appointed Peter Pope as Manhattan’s first executive assistant district attorney for gun violence prevention on Jan. 26, 2022.

Pope, a Yale Law School graduate, began his career in 1987 as an assistant DA at the Manhattan DA’s Office, working on violent crimes under Morgenthau. He later served as the deputy of the Labor Racketeering Unit.

He moved from investigating long-term wire and grand jury crimes into investigating organized crime. Among his most prominent cases was the 1992 prosecution of Bonanno crime family capo James Galante on racketeering charges involving the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers’ Union.

In 1995, Pope was appointed inspector general for the New York City School Construction Authority, where he investigated waste and corruption.

In 2000, New York AG Elliot Spitzer tapped Pope as his deputy AG, where he ran the office’s Criminal Division. Pope worked on several high-profile cases there, including corruption investigations into then-State Comptroller Alan Hevesi (pdf).

In 2006, Pope became New York State’s director of policy after Spitzer’s successful gubernatorial run.

In 2007, the New York Post reported that Pope played a significant role in efforts to shut down a sex scandal investigation involving Spitzer, being conducted by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Spitzer, who had a reputation for shutting down “sex rings,” was identified as “Client 9” with the Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring, where he spent about $80,000, NPR reported in 2008. Spitzer resigned in disgrace.

After spending a few years in private practice, Pope returned to the New York AG’s office to serve as the Investor Protection Bureau chief before retiring in 2021. He came out of retirement after Bragg was elected DA to serve in his new role of investigating and prosecuting gun-related offenses, including gun traffickers and illegal sales.

FEC records show that Pope’s high-dollar political contributions date back to Aug. 21, 2011, and have been made to ActBlue and an assortment of liberal candidates.

Matthew Colangelo

Bragg appointed Matthew Colangelo, who graduated from Harvard Law School, to serve as the senior counsel for his office in 2022.

Before that, Colangelo served as chief counsel for federal initiatives and executive deputy attorney general for social justice in the New York Attorney General’s Office, where he worked dozens of cases, including an investigation into the Trump Foundation. He also served as a deputy assistant to President Barack Obama and deputy director of the National Economic Council.

Before that, he served as chief of staff to Department of Labor Secretary Tom Perez for three years and as deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice.

Colangelo returned to the department in 2020 to oversee its Antitrust Division, Civil Division, Civil Rights Division, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Tax Division.

According to an April 7 letter sent to Colangelo (pdf), Jordan is seeking his voluntary cooperation in the expanding investigation into Bragg’s “unprecedented indictment of a former President of the United States and currently declared candidate for that office.”

Jordan noted that Bragg hired Colangelo in 2022 “to ‘jump-start’ his office’s investigation of President Trump” because of his “history of taking on Donald J. Trump and his family business.”

FEC records show that Colangelo has contributed $1,042 since 2008, starting with a $400 contribution to Obama for America. Other than a $250 contribution to Todd Litton’s failed congressional bid in 2018, all other contributions went to ActBlue.

Rebecca Mangold

Rebecca Mangold became an assistant DA in Bragg’s Major Economic Crimes Bureau in 2022.

After graduating from Harvard Law School in 2008, Mangold became an associate at the private law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. From 2011 to 2013, she clerked for Judge William Martini in the District of New Jersey. After that, she joined another private firm, Kobre & Kim. Nine years later, she became a partner at the firm and worked on financial fraud investigations. Daily News reported that “Mangold’s notable experience also includes investigating a $1 billion mining hacking conspiracy involving a former Soviet military counterintelligence officer.”

According to FEC Receipts, Mangold made three equal payments of $166.67 to ActBlue on Nov. 7, 2020.

Katherine Ellis

Katherine Ellis began her career at the DA’s office under Cyrus Vance Jr. in 2018, where she served as an assistant DA in Trial Bureau 80. She became an assistant DA in the Major Economic Crimes Bureau in 2021.

After graduating from Columbia Law School in 2014, she joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton as an associate. Before that, she worked as a legal analyst at Goldman Sachs and a paralegal in the Manhattan DA’s office. In 2017, Ellis won the Women in Wealth Management Individual Contribution Award.

FEC records show thousands of small-dollar political contributions from Ellis dating back to 2021. Although there are a few contributions to Win Red and even a few to Trump’s campaigns in 2016 and 2020, the rest were made to liberal PACS and candidates.