Eric Adams’ Deal With Donald Trump Is Pure Corruption

The Department of Justice’s decision to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams is one of the most corrupt acts by the federal law enforcement agency in its history.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York indicted Adams on multiple corruption charges in 2024 related to his dealings with Turkey as both mayor and when he served as Brooklyn Borough president from 2014 to 2021. On Monday, the Trump administration announced that it would drop the charges without prejudice, providing a litany of political reasons for doing so. One included the desire for Adams to help the administration enforce its mass deportation policies.

Adams is a made-man now. An unpaid informant. A forced collaborator. New York City is now a rotten borough, effectively taken over by President Donald Trump through this corrupt deal, and its residents are deprived of independent leadership.

This corruption was made plain in acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove’s letter ordering the charges against Adams to be dropped. Bove’s letter falsely states that the prosecution was initiated by the Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden as retaliation for Adams’ criticism of that administration’s immigration policies. That isn’t true.

Federal courts should back off and letTrump do what he wants, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday. Courts have stymied a range of early executive actions by Trump, from his bid to cancel birthright citizenship to his freeze on federal grants and the wholesale elimination of a federal agency. The remark raised questions about whether the Trump administration would outright defy a court order and plunge the government into a constitutional crisis.

The largest union for federal employees says it’s seeing unusual growth amid Trump’s attacks on the government workforce. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, or AFGE, said the union has added more than 8,200 members through the first third of February, after adding nearly 8,000 in January. In normal times, a typical month might see a net gain of a few hundred, he explained.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and resume its fight against Hamas if the militant group does not go ahead with the next scheduled release of hostages on Saturday. Hamas said Monday — and reiterated Tuesday — that it planned to delay the release of three more hostages after accusing Israel of failing to meet the terms of the ceasefire, including by not allowing enough tents and other aid into Gaza.

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