What the hell is happening to New York City?
Right now, Mayor Eric Adams has no chance of getting a pardon from Joe Biden on the mayor’s federal corruption charges (Adams might be the only Dem Biden won’t end up pardoning). As a result, Adams has turned the charm up on Donald Trump.
Is this an avenue to freedom for New York’s “Swagger Mayor”?
There are almost too many investigations to keep track of surrounding Eric Adams. And like so many, we often feel conflicted. The DOJ made their case against him public on the very day that Adams was supposed to meet with Biden regarding his criticism of the border situation. As Adams was enroute to the meeting, the FBI was hitting the door of one of his campaign staffers, executing a search warrant.
Further, Adams’ next court date (in April) conflicts with the Democratic Primary for Mayor, the only election that counts in this town. Even the Southern District press conference that announced the indictment mainly focused on piddling upgrades from Turkish Airlines and foreign hotels. Are flight upgrades really what this case is about?
If so: why not pardon him? Why not support a Trump pardon that would stick it to the Biden DOJ that tormented Adams — and Trump — for years?
This would be a terrible idea. Trump has run on “draining the swamp.” A preemptive pardon would undo his credibility in that regard. Trump is perfectly capable of undermining his agenda on his own without any help from Eric Adams.
And more than that, Adams’ case is not about an upgrade to first class despite the terrible messaging from the US Attorney’s press conference. There are serious campaign finance violations; that is, the theft of taxpayer money. A foreign government was allegedly paying him for influence. No one should be okay with that.
Further, there is the fact that a “special security officer” has been appointed down in Washington, D.C. to handle the classified material involved in the case. The DOJ prosecutors themselves told the judge that classified material “that could damage national security” is involved in the case. It sure doesn’t look like this is just about some flight upgrades.
And judging from the other cases against Adams associates, it seems implausible that he has not committed or facilitated the commission of multiple other crimes. He is surrounded by people facing corruption charges.
Just to recap:
This past week, Adams top aid Ingrid Lewis-Martin was indicted by the Manhattan DA’s Office on bribery charges. The charges stem from bribes collected from bar owners in exchange for City Hall influence to cut red tape and get the business up and running. Lewis Martin had a search warrant executed on her home in October. She was also stopped at JFK Airport returning from a trip with Kushman and Wakefield real estate executive Diana Boutross, and Deputy Commissioner of NYC’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services Real Estate Services. All three had their cell phones confiscated by the Manhattan DA’s Office. Lewis-Martin’s son reportedly received money to buy a Porsche as part of the deal.
The Manhattan DA’s office in investigating suspicious leases granted for city-owned commercial property. Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Jesse Hamilton, Diana Boutross and others had their cell phones seized regarding this case.
Campaign organizer Brianna Suggs, who may have had a wiretap order on her phone, was the subject of a federal search warrant on her home. This was the previously referenced warrant that occurred while Adams was en route to meet with members of the White House. Suggs is a close associate of Lewis-Martin.
Adams’ Department of Buildings head, Eric Ulrich, was indicted and arrested on Bribe Receiving charges brought by the Manhattan DA’s Office. Several Adams campaign donors were also arrested in this case. Ulrich’s case is ongoing.
First Deputy Sheena Wright, who appears to be the CEO of several real estate companies in Harlem, and the wife of former Schools Chancellor David Wright, had her phones taken by the feds as well. She resigned from her position in the Adams Administration in October.
Adams’ Asian Affairs advisor and campaign fundraiser, Winnie Greco, had search warrants executed at her homes. She is likely getting indicted, and rumor has it she is already cooperating with the feds. Greco had a free room in the Wyndham Gardens Hotel, paid for by taxpayers. The hotel, owned by Weihong Hu, a Adams campaign donator, was the recipient of a sweetheart contract to house inmates on work release. The feds executed a search warrant there in November. Greco is also reported to be tight with the regime in Beijing; Adams apparently took a number of trips overseas with Greco, including to China.
Adams’ “Director of Protocol” (whatever that is), Rana Abbasova, was fired after she apparently agreed to cooperate with the US Attorney’s investigation.
Another Adams community affairs official, Mohamed Bahi, was arrested by the feds for witness tampering. He allegedly tampered with witnesses and destroyed evidence regarding the campaign donation investigation.
Then there’s the cases coming out of NYPD:
Former Police Commissioner Edward Caban and his brother James Caban were both the subject of federal search warrants in regard to a similar allegation about nightclub favors.
Adams campaign staffer and former NYPD Inspector Dwayne Montgomery pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations pertaining to his work to get Adams elected mayor. He was organizing a system of straw buyers to ensure the Adams campaign received the 8 to 1 matching funds. Montgomery got off light with a sentence of 200 hours of community service and a $500 fine. (Note that Adams’ re-election campaign was recently denied matching funds this time around).
Former NYPD Inspector Timothy Pearson recently resigned from his position in the Economic Development Corporation where he worked as a fixer-at-large for Adams. The job itself was a scam. By working for the EDC instead of the City of New York, Pearson was allowed to collect his pension, maintain his job at Worlds Resort Casino, and still pull in $240,000 working for Adams. Pearson oversaw contracts for homeless and migrants. It was recently discovered that some of these contracts were exorbitant, with company executives pulling down over $1 million a year. Many of these contracts were no-bid deals that appear to, at the least, violate best practices. Pearson also hired security companies that appeared to overcharge for services: Molly Schaeffer, the head of NYC’s Office of Asylum Seeker Operations, was recently hit with a federal subpoena regarding her communications with Pearson. Pearson’s cell phones are currently in the custody of the Southern District.
The Banks Brothers are close associates of Adams. Both Philip and David have resigned from their posts as Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and Schools Chancellor, respectively. They are under investigation for their roles in providing lucrative contracts to Pearl Alliance, a firm founded by a third brother, Terence Banks. Philip Banks was so tight with Adams that Adams hired him to run the police and fire departments despite being an unindicted co-conspirator in a previous, notorious NYPD corruption case. It need not be said that that kind of resume should be a disqualifying for any law enforcement position.
And perhaps most notoriously, Jeff Maddrey, formerly the highest-ranking uniformed cop on the NYPD and a close associate of Adams, was recently forced to resign amid allegations of sexual misconduct regarding an underling. This underling, Lieutenant Quathisha Epps, is reported to be the department’s highest overtime earner, having worked hours that appear not humanly possible. At this writing, the scandal involving overtime is only expanding; the Chief of IAB has resigned, the top brass in IAB have all be transferred, and both the Manhattan DA’s Office and DOJ have opened cases in regard.
That is a lot of smoke — and that isn’t even the complete list! The fire is not yet fully visible regarding Adams himself, but we have a hard time believing that it is not there.
There is also little doubt that at least the feds will be able to flip one of Adams’ associates to make bigger cases (Greco being potentially the most damaging). That’s what the DOJ is most famous for, threatening massive sentences for any and all crimes and then using that leverage to gain cooperators. Whether you agree with that strong-arm policy or not, there is no doubt that it is effective. Adams is surrounded by potential stool pigeons.
Is Eric Adams the worst HR manager of all time or he at the head of one massive conspiracy? It seems implausible that every one of his personnel decisions just turns out to be bad ones.
So far there are no allegations that Eric Adams is personally taking money, but he is known to be a big supporter of cryptocurrencies. Many of these, such as Bitcoin, are easily traced, but others, such as Monero or Zcash, present challenges to investigators.
Let the Manhattan DA’s Office and the Southern District of New York make their cases. Get it all out in the open. We know that New York City has had its share of corruption scandals. Let’s see if this one rots from the head.
Adams trial is set to begin on April 21st, which is still a long way off. It would not surprise anyone if the DOJ or Manhattan DA brought more charges against Eric Adams before that date; in fact, federal prosecutors stated in open court that they expect to do so.
If it all turns out to be a political hit job, or much ado about nothing, Trump can issue an immediate pardon if he so chooses — but it is important that these investigations are allowed to play out (and Trump himself said he wants to “see the facts” first).
With the events of this past week, it seems less and less likely that Trump would pardon Adams and more likely that Governor Kathy Hochul will have to act to remove him at some point.
Either way, New Yorkers want the truth, and they should get it. Because right now, our entire city government feels like one big RICO.
This level of government corruption is amazing. Luckily, I’m from Chicago where such things don’t happen…
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has recently changed her tune on sanctuary cities and states, quite dramatically in fact. Should we expect to see smoke signals coming from Beacon Hill in the very near future, or perhaps a Healey visit to Mar-a-Lago?