A senior Justice Department official defended the Trump administration’s decision to stop accusing Democrat New York Mayor Eric Adams, and told reporters Tuesday that the investigation is political weaponization.
The DOJ ordered the Southern District of New York (SDNY) to withdraw corruption charges against Adams in February. The DOJ formula promoted Trump’s executive order targeting political weaponization.
“This is a deep state citizen’s lesson on implementing the agenda that Americans voted for,” he told reporters.
While an important tenet on President Trump’s agenda is immigration enforcement, Adams’ prosecutors have hampered the DOJ’s deportation efforts, officials said. Adams, the DOJ claims, cannot have security clearance to combat the accusations, making it difficult for the Trump administration to help track and capture illegal foreigners. (Related: Trump cancels security clearance, denied access to federal buildings, killing former current staff)
New: Judge Ho orders Eric Adams and DOJ officials to appear in court tomorrow and explain to them the firing of the bribery charges.
“The parties must prepare to address the reasons for the government’s allegations, the scope and effectiveness of Mayor Adams’ “consent”…” pic.twitter.com/8ndctbgmfh
– Frank G. Ruignyeon (@frankrunyeon) February 18, 2025
In September, Adams was charged with five federal charges involving illegal contributions to the 2021 campaign, according to the indictment. DOJ officials condemned the charges against him.
“The Mayor Adams case was essentially an incident involving an airline upgrade, and then a series of claims that SDNY has very, very little, very evidence that the mayor was directly aware of it. It’s an incident relating to campaign contributions,” the official alleged.
Officials say there is currently an active investigation of SDNY officials “involved in subordinate and other politically motivating activities.”
He pointed to Damian Williams, a former SDNY US lawyer who indicted the mayor, alleging that the prosecution was weaponized against Adams. Williams is a legal officer at Merrick Garland and recently joined Weiss’ law firm Paul in January. According to Officially.
“And as soon as he resigned from his position as a US lawyer, he essentially launched a campaign website to promote his work on this ongoing prosecution against Mayor Adams,” the official added. They accused the campaign of “very inappropriate.” (Related: Alvin Bragg’s team will eventually document the case center against Trump)
Democrats:
“Trump is a tyrant. He politicizes the DOJ and chases the Democrats!”
Trump moves to dismiss a suspicious corruption charge against Democrat New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Democrats:
“Trump is a tyrant. He won’t politicize the DOJ and chase the Democrats!”
– 🇺🇸 Mike Davis🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) February 18, 2025
The judge ruled that William’s actions did not violate rules imposed by the court, but officials argued that the DOJ could still take action. He compared Adams’ case to President Trump’s prosecutors, highlighting political weaponization.
“In many ways, I think SDNY weaponization against Mayor Adams looks like what happened. President Trump At the Manhattan District Attorney’s office,” the official said.
Adams previously criticised former President Joe Biden for the administration’s immigration policy, claiming he was targeted for prosecution for his criticism.
In 2023, he warned that the immigration crisis would “destroy” New York City.
Adams said at the time he had no assistance in dealing with the influx of immigrants. But while he has expressed agreements with some of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, Adams has yet to make any official reforms.
DOJ officials argued that prosecutors hamed the administration’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants, calling it a “major issue.” (Related: NYC Mayor Eric Adams pleads not guilty and demands that the case be “dismissed”)
“This is a big issue for implementing the president’s agenda on immigration,” he said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (L) was charged with federal accusations of accepting bribery from Turkish citizens in New York on September 27, 2024, and accepting illegal campaign contributions, before court. We will depart following the appearance of the Accusations of fraud and bribery in a case that marks a spectacular downfall for a man who was promoted as a future Democratic star. (Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP) (Photo by Getty Images/AFP)
“Based on the mayor’s official statement, it is very clear that there are some areas that I think are very in line with the president’s immigration agenda, and there are things that he is not,” the official noted. did.
Officials also pushed back allegations that there was a “Quid Pro Quo” with Adams, adding that the mayor is not obligated to do anything with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
However, officials said there was “nothing irregular” about the defendant entering into an agreement with prosecutors.
There will be a hearing in New York on Wednesday regarding the firing of the incident.
