Mayor Eric Adams: King of NY Official Thread

re'up

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For sure the prosecutors have considered all this, but after the Bob McDonnell case, the window for bribery and public corruption narrowed a lot, on a Supreme Court appeal. And some of the official acts named in this indictment are pretty thin. The concept is basically he took upgrades and favors from wealthy donors, but so what? where's the quo in quid pro quo? The building inspection?

Not that I think he's innocent, but this seems like only a little of what they want to charge him with.
 

re'up

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what a cool story for that reporter, Sarah Lyall, gets to go to Turkey and stay in the same suite as Adams lol

Never stayed in a suite like that but know my way around a luxury hotel, the St. Regis in Punta Mita, the one in Bal Harbour, the Ritz in Laguna Beach, and it's easy to get lost in that kind of luxury. The world just gets so smoother. Everything is MR this and MR that. The day to day hustle of normal life is so much rougher around the edges, but when you start moving in those higher places, it's all just like edgeless. it's seductive. And the really wealthy live like that all the time. They never hear no. They never hear maybe.

It may indeed be better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, but not when it comes to travel. Once you’ve been in the front of a plane or stayed in one of the best rooms at a five-star hotel, it’s disproportionately painful to be sent back to economy or forced to return once again to a Studio Suite at the Residence Inn.
 

bnew

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1/1
The msm is not at all ignoring Cuomo’s possible run for Mayor. But this line is indeed hilarious and captures what a creep he is, peep the video linked:

[Quoted tweet]
The mainstream media continues to ignore it, but @nbcsnl made @andrewcuomo’s possible run for mayor a punchline. “Faster than Covid through a nursing home.”



To post tweets in this format, more info here: https://www.thecoli.com/threads/tips-and-tricks-for-posting-the-coli-megathread.984734/post-52211196

 

bnew

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1/11
@daveweigel
- lose Dem primary to socialist
- run as write-in candidate to secure fifth term
- quit with 30% of term remaining to take gambling CEO gig

[Quoted tweet]
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown has announced his resignation and intention to accept the CEO job at Western Regional Off-Track Betting.

He confirms he will take “several” staffers from City Hall with him.


2/11
@tealtalk
The Aristocrats joke but NY Dems version



3/11
@Izengabe_
You left out waited to resign until it was too late to have a special election which allowed his preferred successor to serve as Mayor until the next general election next year.



4/11
@Lilobri
Why do American voters love hustlers?



5/11
@Rationalist69
Pulling a Higgins if you will



6/11
@juststopact
Elite level gambit



7/11
@LateAristotle
Maybe he has kids in college. Maybe his wife wants to retire well. Ben Sasse left the US Senate to make more money. I don’t see the scandal.



8/11
@UnhitchingHour
State Dems laying out the red carpet for this dipshyt get back in is an absolute disgrace.



9/11
@BenjamisRex
Really giving Adams a run for his money as worst mayor in New York State



10/11
@briskide
My lasting memory of Brown will always be during the massive Christmas blizzard two years ago, when people used the snowplow tracker and discovered Brown had his street plowed and then ignored the rest of the city.

And in response he had the trackers turned off



11/11
@ndhapple
Station sanctioned regional monopoly! (And still they keep going bust)




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GYwRwmrXoAAhZpX.jpg



1/31
@JDale_Shoemaker
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown has announced his resignation and intention to accept the CEO job at Western Regional Off-Track Betting.

He confirms he will take “several” staffers from City Hall with him.



2/31
@Jennyjinx
He's corrupt, isn't he?

New Yorkers need to take back their politics



3/31
@rpphotovideo
What a scummy a$$hole. It is still disgusting how the @nydems railroaded @Indiawaltonbflo for this shytbag



4/31
@SekaranRaj76131
His decision to leave his current role as Buffalo Mayor and take on the CEO position at Western Regional Off-Track Betting is surprising and concerning. The fact that he plans to bring several City Hall staffers with him raises questions about potential conflicts of interest and the impact on local government operations



5/31
@Charlie90145234
How much harm did this negus cause Baltimore? Untold. Now he’s rewarding himself and his corrupt staffers.



6/31
@ToffeeFever
India Walton is owed AN APOLOGY.



7/31
@InformationSilo
If you wrote this guy in over India Walton you should feel deep shame



8/31
@escapedoomloop
These people put all their energy into beating the socialists who are the only ones in urban centers that actually want to govern rather than just do corruption



9/31
@ginsengaddict
An enthusiastic "fukk you" to the entire /search?q=#writedownbyronbrown crowd.

Seriously, the lot you should go to hell.



10/31
@ByGerrySullivan
Boo this man



11/31
@vegoid
Capitalists shouldn't be allowed into any government position. It's a conflict of interest to put someone in charge of the public when it's their literal, stated goal to extract as much wealth from the public as possible.



12/31
@Emiliodjorno
lol those lucky ppl getting fat govt paycheck for cradling his balls.



13/31
@AdjectiveNouns
If you wrote in this loser over India Walton I am laughing at you specifically and your snowplow parking lot you call a city does not deserve better.



14/31
@pomobobomofo
If this is the democracy Harris says she wants to save then Trump and Putin can have it



15/31
@JAIL_PHONE
These are dogshyt people—human garbage



16/31
@2Smitty2
All that bytching he did in the last election, just for him to up and give up? Yeah, never trust a moderate.



17/31
@m_magnuson
For those of you hating on Byron Brown, remember that OTB is a public benefit corporation, that is why he is bringing members of the public along with him.



18/31
@hell0_itsme
He should take all of them with him.



19/31
@DanaFreeling
WTF?



20/31
@WhipSn4p
the revolving door goes 'round...



21/31
@PaulWolf716
Interesting that it has already been discussed and apparently agreed that he will be taking several City Hall staffers with him to OTB.



22/31
@Blue_Bee_pllntr
Pathetic



23/31
@BadTakeEnjoyer
Bruh



24/31
@kittensnotkids
Wow. Old Byron's been mayor forEVER



25/31
@totalnewbie1
Lmao



26/31
@BrezhnevCoin
I hop Western Regional Off Track betting crashes, burns, explodes, dies and then crashes burns and eplxodes



27/31
@joffrey1586657
Yesh



28/31
@rodney_sart
What a fraud

Dems are not sending their best



29/31
@iamthesmiler
resigning in shame



30/31
@Thebattousai
Is this legal?



31/31
@Bloodhound1013
Resigns to take a job at OTB ? What a kick in the teeth to everyone that supported him.




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bnew

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:heh:

Mayor Adams asks court to dismiss bribery charge, says favors for Turkish government were legal​


By
Charles Lane

Published Sep 30, 2024

Modified Sep 30, 2024

New York City Mayor Eric Adams gives a thumbs-up sign outside Manhattan Federal Court.


Andrea Renault/Star Max/GC Images

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Less than a week into his federal corruption case, lawyers for Mayor Eric Adams filed a motion Monday to dismiss a charge that Adams accepted bribes from Turkish officials, citing a three-month-old Supreme Court decision that weakened federal enforcement of bribery.

Attorney Alex Spiro’s motion attempts to undermine federal prosecutors' argument that Adams accepted luxury travel in exchange for pressuring FDNY officials to allow a new Turkish consulate to open even while the 36-story skyscraper was riddled with dozens of safety defects.

"That extraordinarily vague allegation encompasses a wide array of normal and perfectly lawful acts that many city officials would undertake for the consulate of an important foreign nation, such as arranging meetings with regulators, offering advice about how to navigate the city’s bureaucracy, and referring diplomatic personnel to attorneys who specialize in regulatory affairs or building-code disputes," Spiro wrote.

The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York indicted Adams Thursday on federal charges including bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy. The indictment capped one of at least five investigations swirling around the mayor and members of his inner circle over the last year and a half.

In another possible probe, the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg — which first indicted Adams fundraisers in July 2023 — seized yet another Adams official’s phone Friday, the same day federal law enforcement served her a subpoena.

In Monday’s filing, Adams’ lawyers mocked federal prosecutors for doing a “makeover” of a previous investigation that was limited by the Supreme Court’s ruling in June, which allows government officials to accept gratuities for past acts. Gratuities are defined as gifts given to thank an official — but not directly in exchange for their help — or to “curry favor” without any specific request.

“Gratuities are not federal crimes,” Spiro told reporters on Monday. “Courtesies to politicians are not federal crimes. They do not violate federal rule. Congressmen get upgrades. They get corner suites, they get better tables at restaurants, they get free appetizers. They have their iced tea filled up. That's just what happens.”


Recent court decisions have made it increasingly difficult to convict government officials for corruption. In June, the Supreme Court ruled an official must carry out — or at least promise — an “official act” in exchange for a bribe, a definition that has narrowed over time. Setting up meetings, hosting events or answering questions on the phone wouldn't necessarily constitute a crime, judges have decided.

"Yet here goes the [Justice] Department again," Spiro wrote. "It appears that after years of casting about for something, anything, to support a federal charge against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, prosecutors had settled on a theory [about gratuities being criminal]."

But in light of the Supreme Court ruling, he wrote, prosecutors made vaguer allegations about a more serious accusation of bribery.

The argument rests on the assumption that the approval of the Turkish consulate’s permitting does not qualify as an official act.

Attorneys for former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin made a similar argument after he was indicted on federal bribery and fraud charges — an indictment that prompted his resignation — claiming that Benjamin never made “an explicit promise” or actually carried out an “official act” in exchange for campaign donations. A district judge agreed and dismissed the charges. But a higher court reinstated them earlier this year, and the case is ongoing.

Adams’ attorney said Friday outside of court that the Benjamin case — which is being prosecuted by the same office — is based on a “similar shaky theory.”

Still, the Southern District has had some success in federal bribery cases since the June Supreme Court decision. Over the summer, federal prosecutors convicted then-U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey. Menendez is currently appealing his conviction.

Adams’ 25-page filing describes the prosecutors who brought the case as “zealous” and repeatedly refers to their allegations as “vague.” It claims that he never took any regulatory action, either as Brooklyn borough president or as mayor, to benefit the Turkish House.

The motion also rebuts the government’s assertions about an illegal straw donor scheme, calling them “meritless because they rest on a host of false claims evidently attributable to a self-interested staffer with an axe to grind.”

Also on Monday, Adams added two more private lawyers to his legal team, bringing the total to three attorneys with the white shoe firm Quinn Emanuel.

Adams’ political fate arguably strengthened over the weekend. On Saturday, the Rev. Al Sharpton cautioned Gov. Kathy Hochul not to remove Adams from office, as the city charter permits her to do in the event of criminal charges.

Meanwhile, voters in East New York, Adams’ home base, told Gothamist they felt betrayed but still reserved judgment as the case proceeded.




he might get away with it. :dwillhuh:
 
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