Eric Adams Goes Full Trump -- and the Coveted Dorf on Law Endorsement for NYC Mayor
There are no gold bars pictured in the indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, but in other ways it is very much reminiscent of the charges that were brought against New Jersey's now-former Senator and convicted felon Robert Menendez. Whereas Menendez took money from Egypt in exchange for influence, the new indictment alleges that an only slightly less authoritarian Middle Eastern ally--Turkey--was the benefactor of Adams. And while mostly Adams appears to have exchanged favors for campaign contributions, like Menendez, he also allegedly sought and obtained personal goodies--paying economy fares for international flights and then being upgraded to business class by his Turkish friends.
The two corruption cases share an additional feature. Menendez was initially defiant even in the face of what appeared to be (and turned out was considered by a jury to be) overwhelming evidence. So too, despite screenshots of damning email exchanges and a level of detail that the Justice Department would not have invented if it lacked the evidence to back it up (because that would eventually be scandalous itself), Adams has been defiant.
Indeed, channeling his inner Donald Trump, Adams has not only denied the charges--calling them "entirely false, based on lies"--but has asserted that the Biden administration has made him "a target" in retaliation for his defiance of his own party leaders to publicly complain that our "broken immigration" system had flooded NYC with more migrants than the city could absorb.
The ploy is unlikely to succeed for any number of reasons. First, Trump's efforts to play the victim work on his extremely loyal base, but Adams lacks a similar cult of personality among NYC voters. Second, New York law gives Governor Kathy Hochul the power to remove him. Unless and until she announces that she won't initiate that process, Adams will be under intense pressure to resign. Third, unlike Trump, Adams cannot count on the Supreme Court or any court to find him immune from prosecution. And finally, even if Adams somehow manages to hang on, his term ends in just over a year, and he is quite unpopular. Yesterday's indictment makes Adams a lame duck. The only question is how much longer he limps around Gracie Mansion (or wherever he lives).
Good riddance? Yes and no. On one hand, Adams has been a polarizing attention-seeking mayor. His stance on migrants is especially maddening, given that he directed his ire at the Biden administration rather than at congressional Republicans who have, for decades, prevented the kind of meaningful reforms that could rationalize our law. Adams is right that the system is broken, but he doesn't seem to understand who broke it.
On the other hand, I have a soft spot for Adams. Though not quite a vegan, more than any other mayor in New York City or any major American city, Adams has promoted plant-based eating in NYC hospitals and schools. He has not done so out of any great concern for animals. After all, Adams seems to take sadistic pleasure in killing rats. But as a vegan activist friend of mine who promotes plant-based eating on health grounds likes to say, the animals don't care why you're not eating them. I very much hope that whoever succeeds Adams as mayor will continue his policies around plant-based eating, even as said successor will undoubtedly want to pivot away from other Adams policies.
Speaking of successors, I'm going to endorse a candidate for mayor: New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie of Brooklyn. I had the pleasure of teaching Zellnor when he was a student at Cornell Law School and have stayed in touch with him since he first won election to the State Senate in 2018. He is smart, honest, politically savvy, and extremely hard-working. On a few occasions, Zellnor has contacted me to discuss policy questions, and I have always been impressed by his mastery of the issues and hands-on involvement. He has been a legislator--and would be a mayor--who sweats the details. And I'll add that Zellnor is a prince of a human being.
I urge readers who live in NYC to vote for Senator Myrie and anyone else who can to support his candidacy.
Postscript: I was careful to use only my home computer (which I bought with my personal funds) to write today's entry. I also pay out of pocket for hosting for Dorf on Law. And, needless to say, my endorsement of Senator Myrie for NYC mayor is completely in my personal capacity.