Recently, U.S. District Judge Dale Ho decided not to defer a decision on the corruption case against the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams. Joe Biden’s Department of Justice originally brought the case when Adams was indicted on September 26, 2024. The charges, to which the embroiled Mayor pleads not guilty, include corruption, wire fraud, and bribery. Members of Adams’ inner circle have also been charged with similar crimes and for obstructing the federal investigation. Despite seemingly abundant evidence, President Trump’s Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss the New York City mayor’s case shortly after he took office. Given Adams’ recent shift to the right, this move has raised questions about the nature of the motion. A look at the evidence and timeline shows that a deal, or at least an understanding, has been reached between the two politicians’ offices.
The Accusations
Most of the accusations of corruption center around the mayor’s dealings with Turkish nationals. The charge of wire fraud includes a donation from Turkey that Adams tried to funnel through the Matching Funds Program in which US citizens’ donations are matched using public funds. Adams is also said to have accepted over $100,000 in gifts from Turkish nationals dating back to his time as Brooklyn borough president. In return for these gifts, the mayor helped expedite the construction of a Turkish consular building, allowing it to be built without a fire inspection. Allegedly, this was done to ensure the building would be ready for the Turkish president’s visit. The indictment even states that a Turkish official told Adams that it was “his turn to repay.”
The Mayor’s Policy Shift
The timing of all these events has brought much scrutiny upon the Trump administration. Adams began shifting his immigration stance to the right before Trump’s election. However, since November 5, his efforts to curry favor with the incoming administration have become increasingly overt. Following talks in December with both Biden DHS officials and “border czar” Tom Holman, the mayor’s administration began looking for ways to remove unlawful immigrants from the city and calling on the federal government to implement stricter border measures. For the moment, his ploys seem to be working.
When running for office in the past, Adams has tried to portray himself as pro-immigration by hosting fundraising events in immigrant-dense areas and supporting legislation protecting their rights. However, his recent track record reflects a different position. On February 10th, the Trump DOJ announced it would seek to drop the charges on the New York Politician. On Valentine’s Day, Adams appeared with Holman on Fox & Friends to discuss allowing ICE agents to apprehend migrants. A direct quote from Adams during this interview reads as follows: “Let’s be clear. I am not standing in the way. I’m collaborating.”
The Trump Angle
This statement comes alongside the news that several U.S. attorneys have resigned from the department citing “quid-pro-quo” agreements between the two camps. Adams’ attempts to curry favor with Trump have also prompted statements from Trump himself on the matter. Though Trump denies ordering his DOJ to drop the charges, he admitted that the mayor has been “treated pretty unfairly.” To add another layer of complexity, the DOJ requested that the charges against Adams be dismissed “without prejudice”. This means that Adams could theoretically be brought up for these crimes again.
There are no hard links to the Trump administration, and, corruption of this sort is, almost certainly, not always prosecuted by the Department of Justice. Adams did take shots at former President Biden over the lack of leadership he felt was worsening the migrant crisis; a crisis that has hit the city of New York especially hard over the last four years. Given this, it’s possible Adams was targeted by Biden’s administration.
Conclusion
The signs point to some sort of agreement between the incoming administration and the scandal-plagued mayor. However, this would be almost impossible to prove if nothing was put into writing, and a deal of this much political weight would not be put down in writing. Even without a verbal agreement, Adams seems to be positioning himself to the right in an attempt to save himself from prosecution. At the very least, the recent events and the openness of Mayor Adam’s shift to the right are suspicious given the circumstances and timeline.
