Donald Trump sent a powerful signal about his tolerance for corruption with his administration's directive to federal prosecutors to drop a bribery case against New York City's mayor, a columnist claimed Tuesday.
The Justice Department's acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, a former Trump defense lawyer, instructed prosecutors to dismiss charges against Adams, a Democrat who has aligned himself with the Republican president, and Rolling Stone contributing editor Noah Shachtman pondered the ramifications.
"This get-out-of-jail card isn’t free, though," Shachtman wrote. "It practically demands that Adams implement Trump’s deportation agenda, and it leaves open the possibility that Adams could be charged again if he doesn’t go along with the program."
Legal observers were stunned, saying they'd never seen a similar deal before, and while Adams obviously benefited, the move gave the green light to others who might wish to influence administration policy.
"If you’re a foreign government or a corrupt company trying to turn a public official into your toady, Monday’s move sends a powerful signal — one of many — that America is open for business," Shachtman wrote. "Everything and everyone is up for sale. Just name your price, and start the negotiation."
Adams' deal was offered against the backdrop of an executive order from the Trump administration that essentially decriminalized covert foreign influence and overseas bribery, while also dismantling the team that was seizing yachts from Russian oligarchs.
"Trump’s new Attorney General Pam Bondi disbanded the corporate enforcement unit of DOJ’s National Security Division — the prosecutors who went after the people stealing company secrets on behalf of China, or illicitly financing Russia’s war in Ukraine," Shachtman wrote. "She also broke up the task force that seized the yachts of Russian oligarchs, or busted them for violating global sanctions. At the same time, she killed a 50-person task force, established during the first Trump administration, to investigate covert foreign influence — attempts to steer U.S. policy through clandestine means."
Bondi also ordered prosecutors to dramatically scale back enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which had lay dormant for decades until examples of 2016 election interference were uncovered, and Shachtman noted the attorney general and other Trump appointees had conducted paid work for foreign governments.
"The last time he was president, Donald Trump took in $8 million or so in direct payments from 20 foreign governments," Shachtman wrote. "During his last campaign, he asked oil and gas executives for $1 billion in exchange for rolling back Joe Biden’s environmental policies; he also told donors he would immediately approve new pipelines and speed up oil company mergers. For his second inaugural, he celebrated by launching a meme coin that seems to outside experts to be tailor-made for foreign payoffs. And let’s not forget the $2 billion Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser got from the Saudi government for his investment fund."
"Corruption has never been antithetical to the Trump brand," Shachtman added, "and it surely isn’t now."
