As an alum of the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, I am deeply troubled by reports that President Trump’s Justice Department may order the acting U.S. attorney to drop the pending charges against Mayor Adams.
Politics has never played a role in the office’s investigations or prosecutions. For example, most recently the office prosecuted Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez for bribery and Republican Rep. Chris Collins for insider trading.
There is one surefire way to stop Trump from derailing the Adams prosecution and protect the U.S. attorney’s office and the citizens of New York City. That is for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to indict Adams for state charges based on the same facts underlying the federal prosecution. Trump cannot pardon state crimes or control the local DA. A state indictment would fully negate the utility of Trump’s DOJ dismissing Adam’s indictment or Trump pardoning Adams.
Since Watergate and up until Trump, DOJ has acted without presidential political interference. Unfortunately, DOJ is now an integral cog in Trump’s political machine. Trump has already instructed his DOJ to drop the criminal prosecution of former Nebraska Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry who was awaiting trial in Washington on charges of lying to the FBI. Along with pardoning some 1,500 Jan. 6 convicts, Trump’s DOJ moved to dismiss all pending Jan. 6 prosecutions in the District of Columbia.
DOJ cannot justify dismissing the Adams indictment based on the import of its serious allegations of fraud, bribery and campaign violations. The charges span more than 10 years starting when Adams was Brooklyn borough president and through his tenure as mayor. This is not, as Adams has claimed and as the allegations reflect, a political witch hunt.
The indictment alleges that Adams used illegal foreign and corporate donors disguised as legitimate voters to defraud New York City of $10 million in matching campaign funds. The indictment also alleges that Adams received bribes in the form of free trips to Turkey in return for assisting the Turkish government with municipal issues. Adams is further alleged to have engaged in a coverup by concocting a false story and refusing to provide to authorities the password to his cell phone.
The case against Adams also appears to be supported by overwhelming evidence. The indictment references individuals who are likely trial witnesses and numerous emails and text messages, all of which will form the government’s trial evidence. The press has also reported Adams staffers who have been the targets of federal search warrants. His former liaison to the Turkish community, Rana Abbasova, is reported to be cooperating with the U.S. attorney’s office.
The strength of the Adams case is also affirmed by the New York City Campaign Finance Board. In December, the board denied Adams’s request for millions of dollars in public matching funds for his reelection campaign, citing his track record of alleged fraud and his refusal to comply with the board’s inquiries.
The national importance of this prosecution cannot be overemphasized. Adams’ indictment must be viewed in the context of foreign countries trying to influence U.S. politics. For example, the Adams indictment alleges that one Turkish donor believed he was investing in a future U.S. president.
Adams is not the only politician who has been charged with accepting bribes from a foreign country. Menendez was just sentenced to 11 years for accepting gold bars and cash from Egypt. In May last year, Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar was indicted for accepting $600,000 in bribes for agreeing to influence U.S foreign policy in favor of the government of Azerbaijan.
It is not unusual for the U.S attorney’s office and the Manhattan DA’s office to cooperate and indict on the same matter. Indeed, during the Bill de Blasio mayoral administration, Adams’ predecessor, both offices jointly investigated possible corruption.
Here, the investigation that resulted in this indictment was a joint effort between the U.S. attorney’s office and the New York City Department of Investigation. DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber, an Adams appointee and a former assistant U.S. attorney in New York, appeared alongside U.S. Attorney Damian Williams when he publicly announced the Adams charges.
We should not overlook the power of the Manhattan district attorney as a weapon against Trump’s corrupt goal of freeing Adams from facing justice. Trump’s ability to dismiss or pardon Adams’s federal crimes would become an exercise in futility as the result of an indictment against Adams from the Manhattan DA for New York state crimes.
Akerman was formerly an assistant special Watergate prosecutor and an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.