Here’s where it stands — and where it’s going
So what’s behind the indictment of New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams? Biden administration-vindictiveness? Or diligent anti-corruption enforcement?
Both.
(Eric Adams on a Turkish-American magazine cover. This made sense to someone?)
As has been well-documented by now, Adams seems to have gotten himself firmly on DOJ’s radar when he became vocal about the depredations the migrant crisis was visiting upon New York City. Together with several other major city mayors, Adams took a November, 2023 trip to Washington, D.C. to attempt to pressure the Biden administration for financial assistance re: housing migrants.
Which is when the cat leapt from the bag — and the feds hit the door of Adams 25-year-old campaign finance director, Brianna Suggs.
Could it be a coincidence that the very day Adams flew to D.C, DOJ executed a search warrant at Suggs’ home, taking boxes of paper and electronic evidence? Doubtful.
Now, it’s possible that the feds took this approach for another reason: If DOJ had a wire up on Suggs (or others), they may have hit while Adams was out of town in hopes that Suggs would start making frantic phone calls. It’s a classic way to gain important evidence and is known in law enforcement as “tickling the wire.”
But the point is: these things are not mutually exclusive. Sure, the timing looks retaliatory. But that doesn’t mean Team Adams is squeaky-clean here.
Adams’ indictment reads like a novella (it’s as long as one). But here’s the gist:
- Under current case law, the Bribery charges will need a clear showing of a quid-pro-quo in order to stand. Can the feds show that Adams actions on behalf of the Turkish government were directly due to the free flights, upgrades, and hotel rooms he received?
- And if the Bribery charges do stand — then why didn’t the feds charge the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) charges? This would have made it clearer that their theory of the case was that Adams was acting at the behest of the Turkish government.
- A possible answer to this is that the Turks’ side of the ledger is rather thin. What did they actually get from Adams? His push for a variance on a fire inspection for a new Turkish consulate? That’s not much — and Adams can argue that this was just him doing his job as a civic leader.
- The problem there is that the real benefit the Turks expected — that is, to have influence with an American president — had yet to be realized (yes, Adams apparently had them convinced he was headed to the White House).
- The real action in the indictment is the campaign finance violations. But even here, the path forward is not entirely clear. The indictment attributes nearly all of this to someone called “Adams Staffer” (almost certainly identified here). They will have to tie all of her actions directly to Adams. Was he directing her? Was she wearing a wire as he did so? Do the feds have it on a wiretap or in text messages?
- But there’s something else that is not receiving much attention, evidence-wise. Adams allegedly used his personal phone to conduct most of this campaign activity. But when he handed over this phone to the feds, the indictment states that Adams had changed his password in order to ensure no staffer accidentally erased anything. Then he claimed he couldn’t recall the password.
Now, this is an obvious ploy to avoid having the feds examine his phone — and it is guaranteed to infuriate investigators. You can bet that DOJ will pull out all stops to get into that phone (which won’t be easy).
But consider: Adams had to know that. He had to know it would be a transparent attempt to frustrate the case. YET HE DID IT ANYWAY.
Which, to my mind, means that phone has a story to tell. And you can bet DOJ is going to do everything they can to hear it.
Every day brings another story of a member of the Adams’ administration having a phone seized, their house searched, their offices raided. The Police Commissioner has resigned. The Schools Chancellor has resigned. The city’s top lawyer has resigned.
This is not the beginning of the end, or even the end of the beginning. I get the feeling we’re still in the first inning.
So: Will He Finish His Term?
For more on this unprecedented prosecution of a sitting New York City Mayor, join Paul, Chris, and Eric on The 20-Minute Podcast as we tease out the question of whether Adams can actually survive.
Surprisingly, we were far from unanimous on this — and on how legit the case really is.
So click HERE… and we’ll see you on the pod (note: firewall).
So Speaking of Mayors…
Why isn’t this one also under federal investigation?
I mean, even Mayorkas could make that case.
The Senate U.S. Secret Service Report
Let’s get right to the point here: Was anyone surprised by the contents of the damning Senate report on the state of the U.S.S.S?
While there may have been some new issues raised — and some embarrassing anecdotes (really? A 1-800 number to figure out how to fly the drone?) — generally, the report went pretty much where we all knew it was going. Bad planning, bad execution, bad comms, shoddy aftermath.
A source I had on the ground in Butler actually told me that a full 10 hours after the incident, he had yet to be interviewed — and when he inquired as to where all the investigators were, he was pointed to the USSS tent, and told, “they’re all in there, trying to figure out what to do.”
This was ten hours, post-event.
But having read the report, and just having returned from Butler, the real takeaways re: the USSS are a good deal larger, to my mind:
- Acting Director Rowe was the deputy to Director Cheatle as Service leadership and protocols atrophied. Why are we to believe his word that he is the guy to fix this? That needs to be coming from above him — and we need to be sold on it. I am not.
- In fact, it sounds to me like we are about to be stuck with a hefty price-tag for fixing the USSS. More agents, more tech, more training, etc. Fine — these things are likely needed. But why do I get the feeling that we are about to see yet another government agency use a crisis to expand and spend money, rather than to fix what’s gone wrong?
- The pull-out from Afghanistan…. Our Secretary of Defense going MIA for two weeks…. a Secret Service incapable of executing its basic job description… all these things are symptomatic of one thing: We have no leadership in the executive branch. None.
Going up from Cheatle and Rowe, we had: Alejandro Mayorkas; Kamala Harris; Joe Biden. Has any one of these taken ownership of the Service failures?
In fact, have the President of Vice-President stepped up to address any of the above debacles? That happened on their watch?
And if you think I’m exaggerating about our having no Chief Executive… watch this (click the image for the link to watch the video):
That guy —THAT guy — holds the most powerful office on earth.
We’re lucky we’ve made it this far.
And If You Still Doubt It…
Ask yourself: Where the HELL have Biden and Harris been regarding Hurricane Helene? Right now there are upwards of 100 dead, and over 1,000 missing in North Carolina alone. Have we seen a press conference? A visit to an affected area?
Maybe they’ve seen the recent polling — and have decided only hurricanes that hit Pennsylvania matter.
(And btw: Where is the Team Trump to call this out?)
And finally…
Maybe here’s our answer:
Because nothing is more important when you’re family is drowning than the “lived experience” and preferred pronouns of your rescuers.
So join us later this week, when we’ll look at what events in Israel mean for us here, as well as just how big a debacle the proposed “bipartisan border bill” actually was.
Until then — stay safe.
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