More light shed on Eric Adams after Bondi’s DOJ drops charges

While on the campaign trail and after winning the election, it seemed imminent that Trump would pardon New York Mayor Eric Adams, who was convicted, or have the charges against him dropped.

After taking office, the case had not made its way to trial, so Bondi asked the court to drop the charges, which it did, but that is now a decision she may regret, as records have been unsealed.

Drop the Charges

I have written about this rather extensively, openly voicing my opposition to letting Adams off the hook, especially considering the nature of the charges he faced.

Trump was in office for about a month before the DOJ announced that it was going to ask the court to drop the charges.

While the DOJ was spinning the reasoning, it was clear that Adams had convinced Trump that he would work with the administration on immigration, but he would need to be in office to make that happen.

The interesting aspect of this was that the DOJ wanted to have the charges dropped without prejudice, clearly so it would have leverage to use against Adams if he did not deliver.

Charges Dropped

Eventually, the court decided to drop the charges, but the charges were dropped with prejudice, so the administration lost its leverage over Adams.

Judge Ho wrote, “Everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the Indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.”

The court appeared to agree with my assessment, ruling that dropping the charges without prejudice “would create the unavoidable perception that the Mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration, and that he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents.”

The evidence against Adams, in my opinion, was overwhelming, and I thought this was a horrible look for an administration that claims to be for law and order.

Documents Unsealed in Adams Case

Adams had been charged for allegedly collecting donations in Turkey to boost his campaign funds, which enabled him to exploit a taxpayer match election program, which these documents support.

According to the filing, Adams “welcomed the offer of foreign contributions.” It goes on to say that Adams had directed his staffers to “arrange the contributions.”

The case mimicked that of the case recently won against former Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) who had been convicted on bribery charges for accepting gifts to influence votes and policy in the Senate.

I have always believed that Adams was guilty, and considering how small of a cog he is in the machine, I thought dropping the charges was foolish, not to mention an optical disaster for this administration. With this information, I am now convinced more than ever that Trump made a mistake here. Adams should have faced justice, not get a pass from a president who continues to give corrupt political figures a free pass (Trump also pardoned a former corrupt Democrat governor and a Nevada city council official).