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A bit of a twist on why Trump wants NY mayor Adams not to be charged [1]

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Date: 2025-02-11

But first things first: What exactly has Adams been charged with? The accusation is that he knowingly accepted years of luxury travel gifts in exchange for, among other things, making sure the NYPD fire department would rubber stamp their approval to allow the opening of the new Turkish consulate in Manhattan. Of course, never mind that the inspectors directly involved had significant safety concerns.

But first things first: What exactly has Adams been charged with? The accusation is that he knowingly accepted years of luxury travel gifts in exchange for, among other things, making sure the NYPD fire department would rubber stamp their approval to allow the opening of the new Turkish consulate in Manhattan. Of course, never mind that the inspectors directly involved had significant safety concerns.

We heard a few days ago that the US Justice Department has told federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York that they must drop the bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. OK. Why?

There is here on Daily Kos a very lengthy story from the AP……...but something is missing from their analysis. So, something to chew on this morning while many of us on the East coast wait for yet another round of snow, freezing rain and awful conditions.

Alrighty, here is ostensibly the reason for dropping the case: acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove has determined that the timing of these charges is questionable and of course, wait for it, this is because the Biden administration had weaponized the Justice Department. Bove is also contending that Adams cannot aid the Trump administration in their crackdown on illegal immigration while he remains under this legal cloud and distracted from doing his very important job. Right. Sure.

However, please pay attention to this: the case against Adams is being dismissed without prejudice. Which means that Adams could be brought up on these charges again. By, one would surmise, the Trump Justice Department's Southern District of New York.

Why this matters? If Adams could be charged again, anyone "see" the cartoon-sized dumbbell hanging over his head? Can we prove this? Probably not, but that doesn't make it any less likely that this is why the case is being dropped without prejudice--Trump or anyone who has his ear could contend that Adams isn't doing enough, or not exactly what Trump and his minions want.

So then, the guy is being charged with in effect bribery for accepting ongoing gifts from Turkey and now this charge and the accusations are being dropped, to be replaced by another form of bribery---not by Adams of course, but by the Trump administration. Do what we want you to do, or we will recharge you.

Powerful motivation for the mayor of the largest city in the USA to do their bidding, wouldn't you say? And do you honestly think the demands will stop at immigration issues? How many other pounds of flesh do you think could be sliced and diced off of Adams and his office? At what cost to the more than 8 million New Yorkers? And maybe the folks of New York as well.

This story made national news, sorry for the cliche, for about a NY minute. How many other stories are out there that we aren't hearing and reading about--and if true but undiscovered for now, are a terrific way to make certain many, maybe dozens of political, corporate, and mostly very wealthy men will bend the knee and do Trump's bidding as well.

And if you are a fan of Rachel Maddow, you may have caught her brief take on this story. But if not, the above story pretty much tells you all you need to know about how deep and wide the corruption may already be, just three weeks in. Finally, none of the stories I read dealt fully with what all 100-level journalism classes teach---who, what, when, where, why and how. Specifically, the most important of the tentacles of why was missing. Why do this—not for his immigration work, or that there was weaponization, but the biggest why. To buy Adams’s cooperation and complicity.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/11/2302949/-A-bit-of-a-twist-on-why-Trump-wants-NY-mayor-Adams-not-to-be-charged?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

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