Trump Corruption Watch: Eric Adams Edition

Trump is one big corruption machine. We have had various examples recently.

President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose 14-year sentence for political corruption charges he commuted during his first term.

Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 on charges that included seeking to sell an appointment to then-President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat and trying to shake down a children’s hospital. Blagojevich served eight years in prison before Trump cut short his term in 2020.

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President Donald Trump removed the head of the Office of Government Ethics from his post, the agency said Monday – the latest example of Trump acting against a government watchdog.

The agency’s director, David Huitema, was confirmed to the post by the Senate in November and officially began the job in December. He had been nominated by President Joe Biden but had languished for more than a year in the Senate before lawmakers confirmed him by a 50-46 vote during a post-election lame-duck session.

OGE directors typically serve five-year terms – allowing them to overlap administrations as part of an attempt to reduce partisanship. On Monday, a statement on the agency website read: “OGE has been notified that the President is removing David Huitema as the Director of OGE. OGE is reverting to an Acting Director.”

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A judge on Monday granted a temporary reprieve to the leader of an independent federal ethics agency who filed a lawsuit claiming he was illegally fired by President Trump.

The Office of Special Counsel investigates and prosecutes violations of "prohibited personnel practices" like whistleblower retaliation, enforces ethics laws like the Hatch Act, and protects the employment rights of military veterans.

The office's leader, Hampton Dellinger, filed a lawsuit Monday in Washington, D.C., federal court after receiving a termination email Friday night.

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The highlight (lowlight) for this NYC resident involves Mayor Eric Adams:

The Department of Justice has directed federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams, offering him a potential political lifeline as he seeks reelection.

News of the directive comes on the same day the Democratic mayor announced new upcoming guidance on working with federal immigration enforcement and ordered his senior officials to refrain from criticizing President Donald Trump, whom Adams has courted since his reelection.

The reason, via Trump's lawyer (Emil Bove, now a top Justice official) in the election interference trial that led him to be a convicted felon (Bove also has significant prosecutorial experience) is that the prosecution interfered with Adams' efforts against "illegal immigration" and it was politically motivated:

Both Trump and Adams have claimed they were wrongly prosecuted by the Department of Justice under the Biden administration. Adams’ lawyer is Alex Spiro, who has represented billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk.

To remind:

Prosecutors accused Adams in September of accepting travel perks from people affiliated with the Turkish government. In exchange, they argued, Adams used his influence to expedite the opening of a new Turkish consulate on the East Side, overruling fire inspectors who had found safety violations.

Prosecutors also accused Adams of accepting straw donations to mask illegal foreign donations to his 2021 campaign.

The Justice Department memo specifically references his work dealing with immigration but drops a footnote assuring us that there is no direct quid pro quo for helping Trump. 

The memo also takes a shot at Biden's release of Viktor Bout without noting the full nature of the prison exchange involved. Bout was in prison for nearly fifteen years. He was swapped for Brittney Griner, with another woman also coming home. Paul Whelan, a former Marine, was hoped to be included, but Russia rejected the idea. He was released later. 

The Adams move is "without prejudice," meaning the prosecution can be brought in the future, particularly after the 2025 mayoral elections, though I would not hold my breath. Allegedly, the prosecution was unfairly close to the election campaign. 

Sounds familiar.  

Gov. Hochul has the power to remove him but realistically would not do so without a lot of support from other political actors. We are talking about removing a democratically elected mayor of a major city who was not convicted of a crime.  

I have seen people call her a coward, annoyed some savior isn't swooping in. If you are upset, be upset with the others city and statewide who looked the other way. The time to start was last year, including perhaps having a special prosecutor or something. 

Kathyrn Garcia came in second place after the instant run-off voting was complete in the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary. The final count was 50.4% to 49.6%. Eric Adams then went against some loser in the general. So, we were quite close to a no drama woman mayor. Not exciting, but I'll take it. 

Eric Adams had a favorable time of it in 2021 with the opposition divided among multiple candidates and instant run-off ranking still a novel thing. We shall see if the candidates are more savvy about it this year. 

Adams is polling badly now though I wouldn't guarantee him losing quite yet. Meanwhile, there is the spector of Andrew "please no" Cuomo being a candidate. There are again no one who is a clear favorite as a challenger. 

Ultimately, it is up to the voters. It should not just be up to the voters. The justice system also should play a role. In a system that is not broken and corrupt.

Our constitutional crisis (or whatever) continues.