Trump's New York Lawfare Backfire - WSJ Editorial
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Gov. Kathy Hochul is considering whether to remove Mr. Adams from office after news emerged last week of an alleged Trump-Adams quid pro quo. Mr. Trump wants Mr. Adams in office to help him with migrant removal and other things. But that’s angered New York Democrats, and this week four of the mayor’s leading aides quit.
This story doesn’t make the Justice Department look good, or smart. In a Feb. 10 memo from Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, Justice ordered prosecutors to drop the corruption case against Mr. Adams, but with the ability to revive it later. Mr. Bove said the charges are distracting the mayor from supporting federal efforts against illegal immigration.
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Mr. Adams denies any quid pro quo, as his lawyers told federal Judge Dale Ho, who is assigned the Adams case. Mr. Adams’s lawyers say they merely explained in a Jan. 31 meeting with Mr. Bove how the corruption case was “impeding Mayor Adams in myriad ways, including as to enforcement of federal immigration laws.” In a follow-up letter dated Feb. 3, they said the indictment had “complicated” the mayor’s ability to exercise his official powers, which “allow him to take actions” such as “re-opening the ICE office on Rikers Island.” Another account of the Jan. 31 meeting comes from Danielle Sassoon, the acting U.S. Attorney who quit last week on principle after she was ordered to dismiss the charges.
“Adams’s attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with the Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed,” she wrote in a memo. “Mr. Bove admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting’s conclusion.” This sure looks like a quid pro quo, especially since dismissing the case “without prejudice” means it can be brought again—say, if Mr. Adams proves to be less cooperative than Mr. Trump hopes. I
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The President’s mistake, through his Justice Department, was to meddle in a prosecution with evidence that should have been able to live or die in court. New Attorney General Pam Bondi has been embarrassingly quiet as her department looks like it did the President’s bidding for political purposes. And Mr. Adams may not survive in office anyway.
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