After all the public groveling and taxpayer-funded trips to Mar-a-Lago, New York City Mayor Eric Adams appears to have successfully prostrated himself to freedom. A federal judge on Wednesday permanently dismissed the wide-ranging corruption charges brought against him.
“We can never allow this to happen to another innocent American,” Adams said shortly after the dismissal was announced, holding a copy of FBI director Kash Patel’s Government Gangsters. “I’m going to encourage every New Yorker to read it,” he added, referring to the conspiracy-addled book.
The remarks, though brief, succinctly captured the presence of a public figure historically incapable of remorse, something of a feat in an era of Trumpian shamelessness. Because one would think that the recipient of such enormous good luck—I mean, what else can we call this outcome?—against the backdrop of egregious levels of government corruption, would force some modesty out of a person even as brazen as Adams. But as the allegations against Adams fully demonstrated, acting in ill-advised ways is simply how he operates.
As my colleague Anna Merlan wrote, the alleged crimes that got him in trouble with the feds in the first place, which ranged from bribery to wire fraud, were grim. But they were also unquestionably comical, carried out with the clowning of a bad slapstick comedy. There was the alleged insistence on putting everything in writing; accepting piles of cash with zero regard for discretion; requiring Turkish Air for travel (the first stop is always Istanbul).
At first blush, the scandal seemed to instantly decimate Adams’ political future. His favorability among New York City residents plummeted and potential jail time was a genuine possibility. But two months after the charges were unsealed, Adams received the ultimate good fortune in President Donald Trump’s victory, kicking off months of ingratiating behavior by Adams. This extended into policy: the selling out of New York City’s long-held status as a sanctuary city and greenlighting Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s return to Rikers. Adams also refused to condemn the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia student who was detained last month over his pro-Palestinian views despite holding a green card.
All the fawning has now landed Adams not just one, but two clear victories: the end of the federal investigation into his alleged corruption, and, perhaps more importantly, protection from the administration should it seek to refile.
In other words, Adams got away with it—handsomely. But in promoting the book of a conspiratorial MAGA head on Wednesday, Adams appeared to signal that he remained willing to go out of his way to boost MAGA’s agenda, even if now technically scot-free.
