As Americans, we’ve grown accustomed to our nation’s corruption to be relegated to the shadows. Corruption typically has to be uncovered in some way – some whistleblower drawing attention to some politician’s abuses. That’s what happened last year when the Department of Justice brought to light evidence that New York City mayor Eric Adams had taken bribes and solicited illegal campaign contributions.
Just a few months later and the norm has changed quite a bit. Now, government officials are willing to freely and openly engage in corrupt practices. Attorney general Pam Bondi and acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove decided to request a dismissal of charges against Adams in return for the mayor’s cooperation with president Trump’s immigration agenda, also known as a quid pro quo.
Initially, the order to request a dismissal was given to then acting US attorney Danielle Sassoon, who was in charge of the case against Adams. In response to being asked to completely dispense with any professional integrity, Sassoon opted to submit her resignation in protest – seven other federal prosecutors have joined her.
Sassoon wrote to Bondi, alleging that attorneys for Adams had met with her and Emil Bove where they requested a quid pro quo by stating that the mayor could help with immigration enforcement, “only if the indictment were dismissed.” In the same meeting, Bove reprimanded one of Sassoon’s prosecutors for taking notes about the exchange and then took the notes from them.
It seems that at the time (31st of last month), Bove was concerned that this exchange of favors would look like politically motivated corruption and wanted to limit records of it.
That is no longer a consideration for Bove and Bondi though, given that Bove told the judge overseeing the case, Dale Ho, that the request for dismissal came as a result of the deleterious effects that the indictment had on Trump’s immigration and national security agenda and that it was, “a standard exercise of prosecutorial discretion.”
In a Fox and Friends appearance with Adams, border czar Tom Homan openly joked about the corruption saying, “and if he doesn’t come through, I’ll be back in New York City and we won’t be sitting on the couch, I’ll be in his office, up his butt, saying, ‘Where the hell is this agreement we came to?’”
What Homan is alluding to here is that the DOJ is attempting to get the charges dismissed without prejudice, which means that they are free to refile the charges at a later time. This suggests that, if the DOJ wanted to, they could refile the charges if Adams were to step out of line from Trump’s agenda.
Remember during Trump’s inauguration when he claimed that he would put an end to the weaponization of the Justice Department? Well, it’s been a month and he’s already pointing it at people like it’s a 12-gauge and he’s robbing a liquor store. I was truly surprised to see this, Trump gave us no signs that he would wield his power like a drunken criminal.
There is no longer even a halfhearted attempt to act somewhat in accordance with the law. As Sassoon stated in her letter to Bondi, according to that stupid thing known as “the law,” “Federal prosecutors may not consider a potential defendant’s ‘political associations, activities, or beliefs.’” Bove, on the other hand, took the ride to the courthouse and told the judge directly that his motivation was that Adams agreed to abide by Trump’s immigration agenda.
This here is one of the fundamental aspects of the legal system that would allow us to believe that it is administered impartially – that prosecutors not be motivated by political interests. This Justice Department is now completely compromised and is not even attempting to give the appearance that they are impartial seekers of justice.
Judge Ho will consider whether to dismiss the case, and he will in all likelihood grant the request. This is an unprecedented moment in the history of the DOJ: it has been taken over by Trump sock puppets who don’t have that pesky conscience thing to stand in their way.
Rafael Perez is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. He is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the University of Rochester. You can reach him at rafaelperezocregister@gmail.com.