Right-wing pundit and founder of conservative law group Article III Project, Mike Davis, appeared on CNN Primetime’s coverage of former President Donald Trump’s indictment, where he spread a conspiracy theory that baselessly connected the indictment to the Biden administration. 

Davis was a guest on CNN’s special coverage of the indictment on the April 5 edition of CNN Primetime: Inside the Trump Investigations. He told host Pamela Brown, “Alvin Bragg recruited one of the top officials from the Biden Justice Department, Matthew Colangelo” just to “revive this dead case” against Trump. Brown later challenged him on his unfounded claims about the indictment being a political hit, revealing she had heard Davis “in other interviews” make the same conspiratorial claims.

Across right-wing media and on Twitter, Davis has been targeting Colangelo, baselessly claiming that because he previously worked for the Department of Justice and now works for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, this is evidence of the Biden administration’s involvement in Trump’s indictment. 

On April 2, Davis took to Twitter to share his findings claiming the media “failed to mention” that Colangelo “was a political appointee for both Obama and Biden Administrations.” In a thread Davis shared Colangelo’s work history and called him a “senior Democrat operative” who was  “brought in by Bragg to get Trump.” Davis then called on the House Judiciary committee to subpoena Colangelo as the “key link between Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and the Biden DOJ” as absolute evidence that the Biden administration orchestrated Trump’s indictment. 

Davis then appeared on Steve Bannon’s War Room, where he is a frequent guest, to share his conspiracy theory, which Bannon called the “interlinkage” and the “chain of custody right back to the Biden White House.” Without evidence, Davis claimed Colangelo is “the guy who is driving” the indictment and again referred to Colangelo as the “link between the Biden Justice Department and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.” Davis even criticized CNN for not reporting on Colangelo’s past work experience and claimed the network, and media in general, was “covering up his background.”

Bannon then called on his audience to “make this guy infamous” and displayed Colangelo’s image. Bannon stated “he should be brought in right away, we should get all his emails” and Davis agreed, even adding that “Congress absolutely has the Constitutional power, in fact duty, to investigate this.”

The theory quickly made it to Fox News on April 4, where prime-time host Jesse Watters claimed about Colangelo, “No one wanted this case until Joe Biden’s Justice Department sent their partisan hatchet man into Bragg’s office.” Watters attacked Colangelo for not having any relevant experience and being a “terminator.” Watters also hosted Davis to further smear Colangelo and try to explain his baseless conspiracy theory. Davis once again called Colangelo “the driving force” behind Trump’s indictment and contradicted Watters' attacks by reviewing Colangelo’s extensive legal resume ending his rant by claiming it somehow shows the indictment is a “political hit by Biden to take out Trump.”

 The same evening Davis appeared on Newsmax's Greg Kelly Reports to repeat his unsubstantiated claims.

The morning after Davis’ April 5 appearance on CNN he was back on Bannon’s War Room to continue calling for Colangelo to be subpoenaed. Bannon even applauded Davis’ CNN appearance saying “I hope that’s the first of many at CNN” and calling it “the first time I think the CNN audience has really gotten the truth with both barrels.” 

Others sharing the unfounded theory: 

The conspiracy was shared on March 30, by former Trump advisor Garett Ziegler’s 501(c)(3), Marco Polo. In a tweet, Ziegler said Colangelo was “overseeing the day-to-day of this charade,” while complaining about Trump’s indictment. 

On April 3, Colangelo was named by Trump in a post on Truth Social where Trump called the indictment a “Witch Hunt” led by Biden and connected Colangelo to the administration, calling him a “top Democrat DOJ official.” 

In the days following Davis’ media frenzy, Turning Point USA’s Benny Johnson tweeted about Colangelo, saying of his involvement in the Trump indictment, “Coincidence? I think not.”   Right-wing influencer DC Draino also implied Biden sent Colangelo to the Manhattan DA’s office just to indict Trump.

January 6 defendant attorney Joseph McBride called Colangelo “the man behind the Trump indictment” and  drew connections between Bragg, Colangelo, Biden, and the devil.