5 ms·

US prosecutor in New York resigns after order to drop mayoral case

56 points by sealeck 2y ago

smallerize 2y ago
After Sassoon, two more officials have resigned rather than dropping charges against Adams. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/top-federal-prosecutor-ny-resigns-told-drop-adams-charges-rcna192030 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/top-fede... John Keller, the acting head of the Public Integrity Section and Kevin Driscoll, the acting head of the department's Criminal Division. Keep in mind that "acting head" means they were recently chosen for the positions by the Trump administration, but they are still refusing to comply.
- A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 2y ago
  Honestly, it reads like an episode of "Wire" script. Something is clearly going on behind the scenes and we get to speculate on the actual reasons for every single piece of this. I have zero idea what is really going on, but I am reasonably certain some of the details will be out.
  - TheAlchemist 2y ago
    What's going on, is that Trump / Musk are trying to take over the US governement, either for their own profit or on behalf China or Russia. Anybody who believes they act in good faith is delusional. PS. I know it's this comment is not up to HN standards, but we've seen this movie play in other, less powerfull countries, and it doesn't bode well. While I'm not a US citizen, unfortunately the US has (not for long) such an outsized impact on the world, that we will all be impacted by what's going on. That's why I think that HN should stop censoring these articles, so that people working for Musk companies, which are plenty on HN, can see what's up and what people think about it. And I don't buy the argument that politics should not be part of workplace. We're way way past normal politics at this point.
    - palmotea 2y ago
      > either for their own profit or on behalf China or Russia. It's delusional to think either of them are agents of anyone but themselves. They don't have the motive or the discipline. That's no to say they won't be useful to those countries (e.g. Musk plan to use unvetted twenty-somethings to backdoor the entire federal government must have foreign spy chiefs jumping for joy)
      - A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 2y ago
        << It's delusional to think either of them are agents of anyone but themselves. It is hard to understate this. I had odd conversations with both sides ( I am in a weird spot, because since I come from the old country, two party US system is edit: not internalized as a good way to describe leanings ) of US political spectrum and somehow both sides tend to miss it or rationalize it away ( edited ). If we agree that Trump/Musk represent some sort of threat to the system, then it is not because of conviction or some deep held belief they hold. What they believe is just what happens to benefit them at a time. That is almost the entirety of their positions. That, honestly, is the part that should be a concern. Everything else is just posturing.
  - anigbrowl 2y ago
    Very much so. Sassoon's resignation letter describes the Acting Attorney General (prior to Pam Bondi's recent confirmation) as objecting to a DoJ lawyer taking notes in the meeting with Adams' lawyers, and demanding those notes be handed over when exiting the meeting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGo5bxWy21g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGo5bxWy21g for those who don't get the reference
- anigbrowl 2y ago
  Three other DoJ attorneys under Keller have resigned as well. I can't think of any parallel since the Nixon administration.
verteu 2y ago
He is, of course, cartoonishly guilty: > At one point during her voluntary interview [with the FBI], the Adams Staffer excused herself to a bathroom and, while there, deleted the encrypted messaging applications she had used to communicate with Adams, the Promoter, the Turkish Official, the Airline Manager, and others. > Adams claimed that after he learned about the investigation into his conduct, he changed the password on November 5, 2024, and increased the complexity of his password from four digits to six. Adams had done this, he claimed, to prevent members of his staff from inadvertently or intentionally deleting the contents of his phone because, according to Adams, he wished to preserve the contents of his phone due to the investigation. But, Adams further claimed, he had forgotten the password he had just set, and thus was unable to provide the FBI with a password that would unlock the phone.
barbazoo 2y ago
https://archive.ph/75Bw7 https://archive.ph/75Bw7
bink 2y ago
It's absolute insanity that the mayor of the largest city in the US -- accused of bribery and exchanging favors with a foreign government -- would then do the exact same thing with the US President and Attorney General in exchange for dropping the charges. The people of NYC should be furious that their mayor is now beholden to outside groups rather than the people of the city and those outside groups are allowing him to get away with allegedly betraying the city and committing serious crimes.
- hypeatei 2y ago
  I think you missed an important point which goes far beyond the concerns of NYC citizens: the President is now dropping charges, without prejudice, so that he can hang it over a politicians head to advance a political agenda.
anotherhue 2y ago
Next election is November 4, 2025, Choose wisely. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_New_York_City_mayoral_election https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_New_York_City_mayoral_ele... Adams is running again.
- smallerize 2y ago
  Actually there's a primary on June 24th. I think today was the cutoff to register as Democrat to participate in the closed primary though.
orwin 2y ago
Wow, this is crazy. Do you have anti-corruption NGOs who can sue officials on behalf of a civic entity in the US?
JohnTHaller 2y ago
It's extortion, pure and simple. Hold the charges over Adams' head and ensure he does exactly what Musk/Trump want. We want these charges to go forward as Adams is corrupt as they come and a simply awful mayor.

56 points by sealeck 2y ago

After Sassoon, two more officials have resigned rather than dropping charges against Adams. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/top-federal-prosecutor-ny-resigns-told-drop-adams-charges-rcna192030 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/top-fede... John Keller, the acting head of the Public Integrity Section and Kevin Driscoll, the acting head of the department's Criminal Division. Keep in mind that "acting head" means they were recently chosen for the positions by the Trump administration, but they are still refusing to comply.

A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 2y ago
Honestly, it reads like an episode of "Wire" script. Something is clearly going on behind the scenes and we get to speculate on the actual reasons for every single piece of this. I have zero idea what is really going on, but I am reasonably certain some of the details will be out.
- TheAlchemist 2y ago
  What's going on, is that Trump / Musk are trying to take over the US governement, either for their own profit or on behalf China or Russia. Anybody who believes they act in good faith is delusional. PS. I know it's this comment is not up to HN standards, but we've seen this movie play in other, less powerfull countries, and it doesn't bode well. While I'm not a US citizen, unfortunately the US has (not for long) such an outsized impact on the world, that we will all be impacted by what's going on. That's why I think that HN should stop censoring these articles, so that people working for Musk companies, which are plenty on HN, can see what's up and what people think about it. And I don't buy the argument that politics should not be part of workplace. We're way way past normal politics at this point.
  - palmotea 2y ago
    > either for their own profit or on behalf China or Russia. It's delusional to think either of them are agents of anyone but themselves. They don't have the motive or the discipline. That's no to say they won't be useful to those countries (e.g. Musk plan to use unvetted twenty-somethings to backdoor the entire federal government must have foreign spy chiefs jumping for joy)
    - A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 2y ago
      << It's delusional to think either of them are agents of anyone but themselves. It is hard to understate this. I had odd conversations with both sides ( I am in a weird spot, because since I come from the old country, two party US system is edit: not internalized as a good way to describe leanings ) of US political spectrum and somehow both sides tend to miss it or rationalize it away ( edited ). If we agree that Trump/Musk represent some sort of threat to the system, then it is not because of conviction or some deep held belief they hold. What they believe is just what happens to benefit them at a time. That is almost the entirety of their positions. That, honestly, is the part that should be a concern. Everything else is just posturing.
- anigbrowl 2y ago
  Very much so. Sassoon's resignation letter describes the Acting Attorney General (prior to Pam Bondi's recent confirmation) as objecting to a DoJ lawyer taking notes in the meeting with Adams' lawyers, and demanding those notes be handed over when exiting the meeting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGo5bxWy21g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGo5bxWy21g for those who don't get the reference
anigbrowl 2y ago
Three other DoJ attorneys under Keller have resigned as well. I can't think of any parallel since the Nixon administration.

verteu 2y ago

He is, of course, cartoonishly guilty: > At one point during her voluntary interview [with the FBI], the Adams Staffer excused herself to a bathroom and, while there, deleted the encrypted messaging applications she had used to communicate with Adams, the Promoter, the Turkish Official, the Airline Manager, and others. > Adams claimed that after he learned about the investigation into his conduct, he changed the password on November 5, 2024, and increased the complexity of his password from four digits to six. Adams had done this, he claimed, to prevent members of his staff from inadvertently or intentionally deleting the contents of his phone because, according to Adams, he wished to preserve the contents of his phone due to the investigation. But, Adams further claimed, he had forgotten the password he had just set, and thus was unable to provide the FBI with a password that would unlock the phone.

barbazoo 2y ago

https://archive.ph/75Bw7 https://archive.ph/75Bw7

bink 2y ago

It's absolute insanity that the mayor of the largest city in the US -- accused of bribery and exchanging favors with a foreign government -- would then do the exact same thing with the US President and Attorney General in exchange for dropping the charges. The people of NYC should be furious that their mayor is now beholden to outside groups rather than the people of the city and those outside groups are allowing him to get away with allegedly betraying the city and committing serious crimes.

hypeatei 2y ago
I think you missed an important point which goes far beyond the concerns of NYC citizens: the President is now dropping charges, without prejudice, so that he can hang it over a politicians head to advance a political agenda.

anotherhue 2y ago

Next election is November 4, 2025, Choose wisely. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_New_York_City_mayoral_election https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_New_York_City_mayoral_ele... Adams is running again.

smallerize 2y ago
Actually there's a primary on June 24th. I think today was the cutoff to register as Democrat to participate in the closed primary though.

orwin 2y ago

Wow, this is crazy. Do you have anti-corruption NGOs who can sue officials on behalf of a civic entity in the US?

JohnTHaller 2y ago

It's extortion, pure and simple. Hold the charges over Adams' head and ensure he does exactly what Musk/Trump want. We want these charges to go forward as Adams is corrupt as they come and a simply awful mayor.