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Trump Saves Eric Adams From Prosecution - The Tuesday AM Quickie 2/11/25

By Jacob Silverman —

The prevailing "flood the zone" strategy is to do so many illegal, awful, or chaotic things that Democrats are overwhelmed. Seems to be working. -Jacob

ON THE SHOW TODAY

2/11: It's News Day Tuesday! Sam and Emma break down the biggest headlines of the day.

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Today you'll read about Donald Trump doing Eric Adams a solid, the return of corruption as cool and legal, and a slate of already disastrous Trump administration actions against competent government bureaucrats.

THE BIG NEWS

Trump Saves Eric Adams From Prosecution

The Department of Justice, no doubt prompted by President Donald Trump, told the Manhattan U.S. attorney to kibosh its corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams. The directive was issued by Emil Bove, the current acting Deputy Attorney General, who previously worked as Trump's criminal defense attorney. Bove's memo instructed US Attorney Danielle Sassoon, who's best known for successfully prosecuting crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, to dismiss the charges "as soon as is practicable." Bove also expects Adams's security clearance to be restored.

Sassoon could refuse the order, which would provoke a crisis with the DoJ and potentially lead to her being fired. A former clerk for right-wing Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Sassoon is not considered a liberal, but she is a professional and – as I observed while attending the Bankman-Fried trial – a capable prosecutor. Still, any refusal or protest by Sassoon, or her colleagues, will likely be a temporary impediment to Adams escaping accountability for his cartoonish levels of corruption.

Notably, Bove's memo says that the decision to dismiss the case isn't based on any assessment of the evidence against Adams. Instead, Bove writes, Adams is a victim of a political attack by biased prosecutors. More importantly, he writes, "the pending prosecution has unduly restricted Mayor Adams' ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that escalated under the policies of the prior Administration."

There's the heart of it: Trump is making Adams' legal problems go away in exchange for help on deportations. Given Adams' longstanding criticism of Democratic policy toward migrants, along with his decision to shut down many migrant shelters in New York, it makes grim sense that Adams and Trump would find common cause over mass deportations. The two recently met and spoke warmly about one another, and it was clear things were trending in this direction. Adams is also represented by Alex Spiro, a high-profile, CIA-connected lawyer who represents Elon Musk, Diddy, and many other bold-face names. It's a big club, and they're in it.

Judge Orders Trump To Release Federal Grant Funds

A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to comply with a previously issued order to release billions of dollars worth of frozen federal funds. The money was frozen after a memo went out from the Office of Management and Budget directing agencies to pause grant distribution. The judge already directed the administration to unfreeze the funds – an order he said was "clear and unambiguous." With Trump and his allies vocally criticizing any attempts by the judiciary to restrict the president's power, we are in the initial stages of a constitutional crisis.

Israel and Hamas Deal May Be Unraveling

Claiming that Israel had violated its ceasefire agreement, Hamas announced that it might postpone releasing the next group of Israeli prisoners. President Trump said that if Hamas didn't release all prisoners by noon on Saturday, Israel should discard the deal and "let all hell break out." Hamas claims that Israel has continued to shoot at Palestinians in Gaza, prevented displaced people from returning home, and blocked humanitarian aid. The potential dissolution of the ever-fragile deal was widely expected and comes as Trump continues to talk about the United States helping Israel to expel more than 1.8 million Palestinians and turn Gaza into beachfront condos for Jared Kushner's friends.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • Trump Introduces Steel Tariffs Donald Trump introduced 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, a return to a policy from his first term. As the Times notes, "The new measures will mainly affect U.S. allies," like Canada, Brazil, and Mexico, which are the largest suppliers of steel to this country. via NYT.
  • Trump Fires Ethics Official David Huitema was fired as director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics yesterday, hours after the country's top ethics watchdog received a letter from Sen. Adam Schiff asking him about Elon Musk's conflicts of interest. Trump also fired Hampton Dellinger as the head of the Office of Special – a firing that Dellinger, in a new lawsuit, claims was illegal. via AP and X/Adam Schiff.
  • Bribing Foreign Governments Is Basically Legal Again Building on a theme of corruption being cool and legal again, President Trump signed an executive order telling the DoJ to "pause" enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits bribing foreign government officials. The stated reason is that the law created "an uneven playing field" compared to international competitors who are allowed to bribe with impunity. via CNBC and Bloomberg.
  • NSA's Anti-DEI Purge May Harm Actual National Security Work As part of the administration's anti-DEI directive, the NSA reportedly plans to purge files referencing certain keywords (equity, feminism, gender, inclusivity), but the crudely designed operation may result in useful information being deleted. via Judd Legum and Popular Information.

SOME NUMBER

2,400

That's how many records related to the JFK assassination that the FBI recently "discovered," according to Marc Caputo at Axios. A January 23 executive order by President Donald Trump calls for the release of all records related to JFK's murder – something that a number of laws and EOs have similarly demanded over the last few decades.

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Federal Workers Stand Up To Elon & Trump

Ben Dixon joins the show to talk about why federal workers should refuse any requests for them to resign.

PARTING WORDS

"Who suggested to The Hague that we'll form a state commission of inquiry?"

"You, sir."

-- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at a cabinet meeting. The Israeli government is required to "discuss" in the next 60 days forming a commission to investigate the events of October 7. At the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu decided to table that "discussion" – which doesn't require a decision to actually establish the commission of inquiry – for three more months. Previous reporting indicates that Netanyahu's government knew about Hamas' planned attack, ignored signs that the attack was beginning on Oct. 7, and then forged records of Netanyahu's activities that morning.

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