Robert Gamer: Author & Activist

Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Jocelyn E. Strauber, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation; and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, went to town on Eric Adams, unsealing an indictment charging the New York City mayor with bribery, campaign finance violations, and conspiracy offenses.

As alleged in the indictment, Mayor Adams, for nearly a decade, used his prominent position in government to obtain illegal contributions and luxury travel. He solicited and accepted these benefits from foreign nationals, including one Turkish individual who sought influence over him. A senior official in the Turkish diplomatic establishment allegedly arranged for Adams and his companions to travel on Turkey’s national airline—owned by the Turkish government—to destinations including France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, and Turkey itself. This Turkish official, along with other Turkish individuals, provided Adams and his entourage with additional perks, including free stays at opulent hotels, luxurious entertainment, and meals at high-end restaurants. Other foreign businessmen funneled illegal campaign contributions to Adams in exchange for political favors upon his election.

According to the indictment, Adams sought and accepted illegal campaign contributions in the form of “nominee” or “straw” donations. By laundering these contributions through U.S.-based straw donors, foreign contributors circumvented federal laws designed to prevent foreign influence on U.S. elections. Additionally, Adams allegedly compounded his illicit gains by using these contributions to defraud New York City and steal public funds. His campaign applied for matching funds based on the fraudulent donations, obtaining as much as $2,000 in public funds per illegal contribution. As a result, Adams’s 2021 campaign received upwards of $10 million in public funds. If convicted of these charges, Adams would have faced up to 35 years in prison.

Despite the gravity of these allegations, today, Eric Adams is free—free from worry, free from accountability. In exchange for his cooperation with Trump’s immigration agenda, including support for ICE operations in New York City, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove and other DOJ officials requested that Manhattan Judge Dale E. Ho drop the charges. The backlash within judicial circles was immediate. A number of DOJ prosecutors, including U.S. Attorney in Manhattan Danielle Sassoon, five DOJ officials in Washington, D.C., and a New York prosecutor assigned to Adams’s case, resigned in protest rather than sign off on the decision.

If the Department of Justice—a supposedly nonpolitical federal agency—issued an indictment, one assumes there was substantive evidence, enough to secure a conviction. Yet, as the new president fulfills his campaign promise of retribution, the DOJ, in dropping these charges, has shed any pretense of impartiality. What we now have is a political tool, a department that bends to the will of those in power rather than upholding the rule of law. If a president can manipulate the justice system in this way, what stops him from doing anything he pleases? The Supreme Court, having granted the president sweeping immunity while in office, seems to agree.

As for the Republican response? Silence. Not a single senator or representative has stepped forward to voice disapproval. This is not ignorance; this is complicity. With Republicans controlling the presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court, the levers of power are firmly in their grasp. Given this reality, it would be naive to assume that those who voted these Republicans into office did so with any hesitation about giving a criminal—a man who betrayed his oath—an escape route. No, this is what America wants. This, as the campaign slogan goes, is what will make America great again.