Justice Department tells prosecutors to drop case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams

[Newman]

Justice Department tells prosecutors to drop case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams - CBS New York (Jacob Rosen)

The Department of Justice told federal prosecutors in New York to drop their corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, citing his "restricted" ability to help the Trump administration enforce its immigration policies.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a memo instructing prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to abandon the charges.

"You are directed, as authorized by the Attorney General, to dismiss the pending charges," Bove wrote in a memo Monday, adding that the department "reached this conclusion without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based," and "in no way calls into question the integrity and efforts" of the prosecutors who brought the case.

Instead, Bove wrote that the "timing of the charges" and the former U.S. attorney who brought the case created "appearances of impropriety," and that the probe into Adams' office "has unduly restricted Mayor Adams' ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime" that occurred in his city under President Biden.

Bove added that the charges against Adams can be reconsidered by the Southern District of New York after the November 2025 New York City mayoral election.

"Timing of the charges"? Yes. He was literally (if my chronology is correct) flying to DC to protest to Old Joe the open border policies that were stressing out his city. As I recall (no Googling here) the FBI raided his home and that of a chief deputy, and charges were announced, prompting the Mayor to return (mid-flight?) to NYC and subsequently shut his piehole about open borders.

I'm told (pure hearsay) that he is likely corrupt, and maybe the charges have merit. The Acting AG left that door open. Adams has done some boneheaded things and that annoys me, but no one deserves to be dragged through the lawfare courts as Trump has been (and it still goes on).

Trump hinted during the campaign that he might relieve Adams of this mess, and I'm glad he did.

[scott]

Justice Department tells prosecutors to drop case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams - CBS New York (Jacob Rosen)
"Timing of the charges"? Yes. He was literally (if my chronology is correct) flying to DC to protest to Old Joe the open border policies that were stressing out his city. As I recall (no Googling here) the FBI raided his home and that of a chief deputy, and charges were announced, prompting the Mayor to return (mid-flight?) to NYC and subsequently shut his piehole about open borders.

I'm told (pure hearsay) that he is likely corrupt, and maybe the charges have merit. The Acting AG left that door open. Adams has done some boneheaded things and that annoys me, but no one deserves to be dragged through the lawfare courts as Trump has been (and it still goes on).

Trump hinted during the campaign that he might relieve Adams of this mess, and I'm glad he did.

They have to use it against others so they can cling to idea that it wasn't just about getting Trump.

[Newman]

This has become rather a three-ring circus in NY. If President Trump, the Cause of All Bad Things (including plane crashes in Canada) is the Ringmaster, the acts in the other two rings, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul respectively, are worth a bag of popcorn.

There may well have been a more empty-headed popinjay than Kathy Hochul serving as New York's governor, but not in my lifetime. Not at all.

Adams has been laughably accused of arranging a quid pro quo with Evil Ringmaster Trump: He would co-operate with deportation policies in exchange for a reprieve from prosecution. Why Prosecutors Accused Their Bosses of Offering Adams a Quid Pro Quo - The New York Times (Michael Rothfeld, William K. Rashbaum):

Before she resigned in protest of the Justice Department’s order to dismiss a corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams of New York, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan made a troubling claim.

In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, the prosecutor, Danielle R. Sassoon, said the Justice Department was essentially offering a quid pro quo to Mr. Adams — dropping the charges against him in exchange for his cooperation in enforcing President Trump’s immigration policies.

All parties accused deny the charges, of course, since such an arrangement is plainly illegal. There Was No Quid Pro Quo in the Mayor Adams Case. Period. (Paul Cassell). It's really Adam's punishment for accommodating the Evil Ringmaster.

"Danielle Sassoon, take up the bassoon, now that you've quit, you little dipshit," is the #1 bit of doggerel in the Newman household at this hour. (2 a.m.)

But aggrieved New York progressives are simply even more aggravated Homan denies quid pro quo with Mayor Adams to drop charges in exchange for migrant concessions: ‘Ridiculous’ (Ryan King):

... Democrats have howled over the sequence of recent events involving Homan, the Justice Department and Adams.

Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has come under pressure to invoke her power to remove the mayor from office, with critics saying he is now beholden to the Trump administration. She hasn’t ruled anything out, telling MSNBC last week that she can’t “knee-jerk, politically motivated reaction” to the ordeal.

That's the cue for the Emmett Kelly wiki of this circus, the Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York. She gives every appearance of bowing to "community organizer" Al Sharpton's crowd and exercising her unprecedented power to remove Adams from office.

This would, obviously, be the penalty the elected Mayor would pay for being accused of skullduggery, and for even a little bit cooperating with Donald Trump. NY Gov Hochul weighs decision to remove Mayor Adams (Deirdre Heavey, Alexis McAdams):

Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., met with "key leaders" in New York City on Tuesday to discuss the "path forward" for Mayor Eric Adams, D-N.Y., following a slew of City Hall resignations after the Justice Department dropped bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy charges against Adams last week.

Protesters gathered outside Hochul’s Manhattan office during her meetings on Tuesday, chanting, "Governor Hochul, fight back, remove Eric Adams."

City Hall sources tell Fox News that Hochul met with the City’s Inability Committee as pressure mounts for Hochul to use her constitutional powers to remove Adams. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, City Comptroller Brad Lander, the Rev. Al Sharpton and other community leaders met with Hochul this afternoon.

New York City has an "Inability Committee"?

The Slap the Table emoji not withstanding, the funniest and most predictable part of this farce is Hochul's "heavy is the head" crap: NY Gov Hochul weighs decision to remove Mayor Adams (Deirdre Heavey, Alexis McAdams):

Hochul, who has the authority under New York State law to remove Adams as mayor, said the resignation of four deputy mayors in New York City on Monday raised "serious questions about the long-term future" of Adams’ administration.

"I recognize the immense responsibility I hold as governor and the constitutional powers granted to this office. In the 235 years of New York State history, these powers have never been utilized to remove a duly-elected mayor; overturning the will of the voters is a serious step that should not be taken lightly. That said, the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored," Hochul said.

I don't think Hochul will break "235 years of New York State history," but the urge to capitulate to the left being what it is, I think she'll add a new layer of protection, a legal committee of some sort, to present options and a "recommendation" to remove Eric Adams.

Heavy hangs the head, she'll remind us.

Well, fuck you and the horse you rode in on, will say Eric Adams, under his breath.

This too shall pass, sez me. The same cowardice that makes Hochul bend the knee for Al Sharpton and his ilk is the cowardice that will keep her from breaking "235 years of New York State history" and deposing Eric Adams.

[Michele]

NYC is a joke. How sad and embarrassing.

[Newman]

NYC is a joke. How sad and embarrassing.

Hochul is another "accidental governor," a DEI prop who rose to her position (the first female governor) when Andrew Cuomo was forced to resign following his covid heroics. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns after sexual harassment allegations (2021). She narrowly defeated Republican Lee Zeldin (Trump appoints Lee Zeldin to lead EPA) in my opinion because too many Republicans and conservatives have emigrated from NY.

Ironically, New York's first black governor, David Paterson wiki (and first legally blind governor, not that anyone sees that), was also a DEI prop to disgraced governor Eliot Spitzer wiki, who was also forced to resign for his sexual hypocrisy in 2008. (Both Spitzer and Cuomo were insufferably arrogant behind the curtain and had no friends to rally against the clamor for their scalps.)

Spitzer has retreated to the private sector; Cuomo, the princeling son of 3x Governor Mario Cuomo, is angling to replace Adams as NYC mayor.

If Adams' mortal sin is to make nice with Trump, Paterson's fatal flaw was to essay fiscal responsibility while in office. He tried to rein in the spendthrift progressives in Albany, who promptly enlisted Barack Obama to join their coup. In my opinion the ouster of Paterson was hugely immoral and cynical.

Not for nothing, the school district where I worked, in their great excitement about Barack Obama's election to the presidency, named an elementary school after him (before the inauguration, of course, sort of like his gift Nobel Peace Prize). Paterson, who had actually attended that school district as a child, was ignored for several years (sort of like the Nobel committee ignoring Trump's Abraham Accords), but finally had one school named after him (which school is now under threat of closure, because Trump).

Ah, New York, the progressive capital of the nation™.