Sunday edition: "We have clearly crossed the Rubicon"

And another week where we are talking about the mayor's butt. #113

I started the week freezing my face standing outside the Dinkins Building waiting for the most important people in city government to both enter and then leave a meeting with the mayor. The sources who told me about it had no idea what it was about, but I soon got word of what was going on upstairs.

In short, Mayor Eric Adams warned his commissioners and top-level staff against criticizing the federal government, mindful of the billions of dollars in federal grants the city receives.

It was a bit of foreshadowing for the week ahead. That evening, news broke that the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors in the city to drop the five-count indictment against the mayor. The reasoning was not that the charges were wrong or unfair, as Adams has often said, but that they could impede the mayor’s work helping President Trump on his mass deportation plans.

(The mayor was with John Catsimitidis and religious leaders at Gallagher’s Steakhouse when he found out.)

In short, the charges will be dropped only if Adams does whatever the president wants him to do. The Rev. Al Sharpton said he would meet with top leaders to discuss whether he’ll continue to support the mayor “because we have clearly crossed the Rubicon.”

Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant!

On Tuesday, the mayor hid from the press and gave an address from the Blue Room at City Hall, not fully sharing details on the DOJ memo’s instructions. They ordered the charges be dropped “without prejudice” and even suggested they be revisited after the November election – not once saying the charges weren’t fair. We found out days later Adams hadn’t even READ the memo, which may be one reason he didn’t want reporters asking him questions.

The mayor met Thursday with border czar Tom Homan, again hiding and running from reporters at an unrelated press conference before and then after the meeting. What emerged from the meeting was Adams promising an executive order to return ICE to Rikers Island. As of Sunday morning, I don’t see an EO.

The other thing that happened Thursday, as we all waited for the official word that these charges would be dropped, was learning about the prosecutors quitting instead of following orders.

First it was Danielle Sassoon, the interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney. More stepped down in New York City and Washington. On Valentine’s Day, Hagan Scotten sent his resignation letter to Emil Bove (married to a former de Blasio aide, for a fun fact.) He blasted political interference in prosecution and said:

“If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.”

(Late Friday, they did find someone.)

Scotten's resignation came hours after the mayor’s TV appearance on “Fox & Friends,” where Homan joked about how he’d be up Adams’s butt if he doesn’t do as he promised. There are jokes to make about this, memes I’ve seen, but the image of the mayor of the nation’s largest city sitting docile on the “Fox & Friends” couch was something.

The mayor also did a 48-minute interview with Homan on Dr. Phil’s streaming show, where Homan went on a QAnon-esque diatribe about trafficked children. (As an aside, whenever I imagine Dr. Phil I imagine the “Mad TV” impression of him and not the actual Dr. Phil.)

I found it particularly interesting given Adams’s practice of calling any criticism against him from the press racist – but he fully embraced Tucker Carlson and the “Fox & Friends” hosts in his pursuit of his own dropped charges. We do funny things in the act of self-preservation.

Also, it’s caucus weekend in Albany and while the mayor didn’t go, he was still the topic of conversation, POLITICO reported. The mayor is scheduled to visit two churches in southeast Queens today, and I can almost guess what he’s going to say.

Here are a few more stories on all of this:

How other prosecutors could pick up the case against Adams [THE CITY]
The cost of Trump’s lifeline to Eric Adams [POLITICO]
Who’s calling on Adams to step down/be removed? [THE CITY]
How much will Adams work with the Trump admin [DN]

You can listen to our now very outdated episode of FAQ where I reported live from outside the Municipal Building before hanging up because I was so cold (I did not follow my own advice about layering up; I really needed a balaclava.)

And I was on MSNBC on Tuesday and Friday discussing all of this. I was also on PIX on Politics and Inside City Hall.

Other interesting stories:

Feds charge Exodus founder and Adams fundraiser with COVID hotel corruption scheme [THE CITY]
A personal look at the Boar’s Head listeria outbreak [GRUBSTREET]
This story started with texting Jose a pic and asking what the f they are [THE CITY]
SNL is so bad it’s good [VULTURE]

🔊LISTEN 🔊

Snakeskin, the album by Cutouts [YOUTUBE]
A friend (a very talented musician) told me this week 1980s Billy Joel is math rock. We will not be explaining further but here is “Code of Silence” with Cyndi Lauper [YOUTUBE]
I sadly could not make Molchat Doma at Knockdown Center on Friday, but here’s a clip of them playing a few weeks ago in Dallas. [YOUTUBE]

Support the Daily News union’s walkout fund if you can [GOFUNDME]

And here was a solo protestor outside City Hall this week.

Thanks for reading!