Fact check: Trump’s false and unsubstantiated claims about his Manhattan criminal case

Washington CNN —

Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly made false and unsubstantiated claims while denouncing the Manhattan criminal case against him over his alleged falsification of business records related to a hush money scheme executed during the 2016 presidential election.

With Trump’s trial scheduled to start Monday, here is a fact check of some of Trump’s remarks.

Trump’s baseless claims that Biden is secretly running the case

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Manhattan case has been secretly orchestrated by President Joe Biden, Biden’s White House or the Biden-era federal Justice Department. As supposed evidence, Trump has cited the fact that Matthew Colangelo, who had served as a senior Justice Department official under Biden, left the department in 2022 for a job in the office of the Manhattan district attorney who is prosecuting the case, Alvin Bragg.

For example, Trump said in February: “What it is, is election interference. It’s being run by Joe Biden’s White House. His top person was placed here in order to make sure everything goes right.” He continued, “His top person, Colangelo, and some others have been placed into the DA’s office to make sure they do a good job of election interference.” Trump claimed in a social media post in March that unspecified Biden “Thugs” sent Colangelo to the district attorney’s office to “oversee” Bragg, “perhaps to make sure that Bragg followed their illegal orders and commands.” In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump wrote, “BIDEN’S DOJ IS RUNNING THE CASE.”

Facts First: There is no basis for Trump’s claims. First, there is no evidence that Biden, his White House or his Justice Department has had any role in launching or running Bragg’s case, let