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This is Totally Normal Quote of the Day, a feature highlighting a statement from the news that exemplifies just how extremely normal everything has become.
“The Justice Department has reached this conclusion without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based.” —Emil Bove, acting deputy attorney general, in a memo addressed to federal prosecutors in New York
Well, New York Mayor Eric Adams is officially off the hook. Months of pandering to Donald Trump—defending him against accusations of fascism, jetting down to Florida to dine with the president, and quietly showing up to Trump’s inauguration—finally paid off Monday night, when the Department of Justice ordered prosecutors to drop their corruption charges against him.
The Democratic mayor was indicted in September for allegedly accepting improper gifts and travel from the Turkish government over the span of 10 years, which added up to over $100,000—none of which was ever publicly disclosed. He is also accused of soliciting foreign donations for his 2021 mayoral campaign and for his current reelection bid, allowing him to rake in an additional $10 million thanks to New York City’s public matching funds program. It took at least five federal investigations for prosecutors to piece together a five-count indictment. Adams faced charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and bribery, to which he pleaded not guilty.
About four months later, Trump’s DOJ swooped in and forced prosecutors to drop the case, admitting that it was doing so without even considering the evidence. (The department said it’ll let the U.S. attorney’s office worry about that after the mayoral election.) And the reason? Well, proceeding with the case, which was scheduled for trial in April, would have been “prejudicial” to Adams since he’s actively campaigning for a second term as mayor. The DOJ memo also criticized Damian Williams, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, for the timing of Adams’ indictment, claiming that it created “prejudicial pretrial publicity that risks impacting potential witnesses and the jury pool.”
This directive came straight from Emil Bove, who was Trump’s personal defense attorney before he was appointed as acting deputy attorney general. Bove defended Trump in the hush money trial, which ended with Trump’s becoming a convicted felon. One of Bove’s signature legal strategies, as well as that of basically every lawyer Trump hired, was to claim that his client could not be tried in a court of law while he was campaigning for president because that would amount to election interference. (Sounds oddly familiar!)
Bove had another reason for why Adams’ charges must be dismissed. “The pending prosecution has unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crimes that escalated under the policies of the prior administration.”
But Adams has been pretty receptive to working with federal immigration agents ever since Trump was sworn into office. He has instructed New York City’s migrant shelters to allow in federal law enforcement if officers show up. He has also urged high-ranking city officials to stop publicly criticizing the president and to fall in line with his mass-deportation plan.
Now, Trump and his inner circle are accustomed to simply ignoring that which is inconvenient for their agenda. Even as he faced four criminal indictments and was found liable for sexual abuse, defamation, and business fraud, Trump insisted he was innocent at every turn and denounced every shred of evidence as fake news or a tool of political vengeance. He even claimed that his legal battles helped him win over key voters. Extending that strategy to Adams has now provided the New York mayor with a new lease on life as he’s running for reelection.
In his first public statement since the DOJ’s directive was announced, Adams told reporters, “I thank the Justice Department for its honesty. Now we can put this cruel episode behind us and focus entirely on the future of our city. It’s time to move forward.”
